Nobrainer’s Think Tank

Actually, do local news stations count as MSM? Sure they aren’t bloggers or anything, but are they really mainstream?

Because I’m a fucking idiot, I spent the better part of the last half-hour watching the Fox 5 News. Now I am left to assume that I’m an even bigger fucking idiot because I’ve managed to pay attention.

Is this Rovian conspiracy in the works? Is this channel trying to make the Average Joe seem so stupid that those with a few fuctioning brain cells should decide that removing them from the voting process (if not the gene pool) would be a wonderful idea? Or are they simply selling the idea that the nanny state is best?

The lead story is about Hurricane Rita. The thought of a new major hurricane and “at least 10,000 dead” seems to give these folks sexual gratification.

One story is about some crime near DC I guess. Yada yada yada and then the interview with Citizen B1 that went like this:

We don’t feel safe. The city needs to put in more lights and trim back the trees. Some of us have even trimmed our own trees, but things are getting better now

yada yada the ‘Skins beat the Cowboys last night. It is rather difficult to screw up a sports report about the underdog hometown team claiming a come-from-behind victory.

Local gas prices have gone up down in the last couple weeks. News Anchor A introduces the segment by saying that “gas prices are high enough.” The clear insinuation was that they ought to be lower, however the statement was literally true. The prices are set to maximize gains from trade on both sides. Move on to Citizen A who thinks prices are too high and blames “the war.” It is easily argued to be a contributing factor. Citizen B comments that he’ll patiently wait for prices to decrease, which he believes they will, as previous capacity returns and new capacity is created. Finally we have Citizen C. Citizen C puts $50 of premium into his SUV then blames the government for not bringing prices down.

The thud you just heard was the sound of my palm striking my forehead in disbelief.

Then we got to the “Fox 5 Investigates” portion of the show (a clear indication of investigational lacking for the rest of the show?). Apparently a new study links global warming to increased hurricane strength and activity. The government experts (not shown on camera) apparently tried to explain that linking a phenomenon to something that’s not even understood is a bad idea. The non-government expert pleaded for substantially increased money from the government for better computers.

So much for waiting to read crazy things on the internet. I shall only watch the local news for further motivation.

BTW, when did used car salesmen switch to broadcasting?