I've had peace of mind for several days now after jettisoning the main stream media (MSM), and by that, I largely mean cable news.
It occurred to me that cable news is an advertising phantasmagoria, an erstwhile profit machine when I had to listen to my brother-in-law over Thanksgiving dinner rail against Fanny Mae and Freddie Mac as the only-- only-- reasons for the housing crisis and listen to him trash the Ford Motor Company for its models, but praise it for not accepting bail out money.
My comebacks were on the tip of my tongue, but I thought, "All we're really doing is trading talking points from FOX News and MSNBC." Instead, I quoted the recently late George Carlin. "It's bullshit! Bullshit... and it's bad for you."
Like a 300 pound carbo-loader out of control, as a news junkie on a diet, I decided to rein in my intake of bullshit. So what am I left with for news?
I'll allow myself to watch Katie Couric once in a while. I just like Katie and above all I watch the CBS Evening News to hear Morgan Freeman do the intro: "From the CBS News headquarters in New York, here's Katie Couric." Or, something like that. It's the best part of the news. And, it reminds me of the old days when Walter, Chet and David, or Howard K. Smith delivered the news with restraint. In those days even the worst of news, even the most outrageous didn't leave me as juiced up as watching the blathering on CNN or sparring on MSNBC. (I haven't been able to watch FOX News for a long time.)
And, I can watch the Newshour on PBS. They're boring and straight forward, like the news used to be. Otherwise, a smattering of news is presented on Tweetie, Keith, Ed, Rachel, and now Larry. Then, two people come on and argue back and forth, back and forth, just to get me all riled up so I'd stay through the upcoming commercials. Bullshit! A waste of time.
Wolf Blitzer? What's with Wolf and all the guys and women on CNN? They remind me of the Israelites wandering around in the desert for forty years looking for the Promised Land, which in their case (CNN's) would be better ratings, higher ad revenues. Baloney! Useless.
I read various publications on line, including commentary on dKos. Reading is so much easier on the nerves. Even the most egregious diatribes are easy to take when you don't have to deal with snarky voices, petulant facial expressions, and who knows what all that body language means. Just gimme the words. I'll digest them, think about them. Come to my own conclusions without releasing a quart of adrenaline, testosterone, and estrogen.
You know, the news. That which is fit to print.