Shrill Shouting in the Public Domain

This week I've taken a "news break." That means that I have watched no television, except for Monday night's Operation Iraqi Stephen, hardly listened to NPR except when I first wake up, and kept away from nytimes.com, well that's a lie. I do check it periodically during the day, but I've avoided reading much more than the headlines.

I decided to listen to music instead, and although I've been warned not to do this, I have had my iPod on while driving. Instead of arriving at work agitated, I get there in a state of ecstasy. Not bad.

Since the switch from analogue to digital television, my cable provider has taken MSNBC off of the basic cable service. With only one cable box, that means I can't watch Rachel Maddow or Keith Olbermann in bed anymore.

Not bad. They were beginning to sound too much like Jon Stewart anyway.

I haven't turned to television now that "In Treatment" is over (Gabriel Byrne as a flawed therapist). I didn't watch American Idol, although I did catch Adam Lambert singing "Mad World" and he broke my heart with his voice and talent. No dancing, no housewives, just music and reading.

And the world seems a bit quieter to me this week, which isn't so bad.

Where Have All the Journalists Gone? Part II

While Howard Fineman, Senior Washington correspondent at Newsweek and frequent talking head on MSNBC is trying to be heard through the numbing noise of cable news and journalism without investigation, by suggesting that perhaps Barack Obama isn't up to the task, ordinary people like you and me have to decide where we are going to find our news.

Yes, I find the smug tone of Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow entertaining, but I can't watch both, since they repeat the same stories and frankly, by the time a news item gets onto their shows, I've read it somewhere else. Except for some of Rachel's interviews. She's had some thrilling guests on, telling harrowing stories, especially about the Bush administration's war on terror.

I wake up to NPR, but lately they seem to be reading press releases and not really doing the hard work either. When I tune to WBAI, I sometimes wonder what year it is! Air America doesn't come in over the radio here, so I can only listen on the computer and during the day, I'm just too busy.

How could I have forgotten Democracy Now! If you miss it on local radio or television, you can watch the daily broadcast on line. In addition to getting arrested at the Republican National Convention despite her "big access" press credentials, Amy Goodman, founder and principal of Democracy Now! believes in the adage made famous by I.F. Stone: All governments lie.

And it's up to journalists to uncover those lies.

In celebration of I.F. Stone's 100th birthday celebration, he died in 1989, the first Izzy Award, was given to recognize independent journalism. The award was shared by Amy Goodman and Glenn Greenwald, a lawyer turned blogger on Salon.com.

Watch an extraordinary interview conducted by Bill Moyers, one of the best of America's journalists, with both of these independent journalists and then reorder where you get your news from.

The End, This is the End, My Friend

The question is: Do we watch Bush's Farewell speech tonight, or just the deconstruction of it afterwards by Keith, Rachel, and Jon?

The question is really a matter of my nerves.

Do I shout out contradictions and obscenities in response to Bush's delusional denials? Or do I wait to listen more passively to Keith's, then Rachel's, and tomorrow to Jon's bemused reactions?

I will miss the humor of Bush. At least so far, Obama and his cohorts are far less absurd.

Will my nerves be able to take it? Watching just a minute of Cheney last night made me ill. He was talking about his cardiac disease, and suddenly I realized that he looks better now than he did when he squirmed his way into the vice presidency back in 2000. And I personally am going to be paying his medical bills, pension, and body guards for the rest of his life.

I'd rather be paying the costs of his trial and prison sentence.

I Wish It Wasn't True: Joe the Plumber is Now a Pundit

According to Keith Olbermann, Joe the Plumber has become a pundit! He is looking for a publicist, and today announced that Barack Obama hates Israel.

Reality tv has destroyed America, I swear.

Update: Joe the Plumber has a publicist, is negotiating a music contract, looking for a book deal, and thinking about running for public office. And even more alarming, he is traveling with the McCain "Straight Talk" bus tour through swing states.