Huff and Puff and Fluff

The Huffington Post is disappointing.

What they’re trying to pass off as news is alarmingly not news and moreover, unremarkable. It is only a reflection of what the main stream media has become: gossip. It used to be that a person could pick up a newspaper or perhaps even watch the evening news and actually get something akin to a researched article or investigated news report. Those days are gone I guess.

Have you been over at the HuffPo lately? I see nothing there but a lot of angry liberals in serious denial along with the usual trolls doing their predictable tormenting. You will find the ubiquitous Sarah Palin stories. They offer anyone that hasn’t had a chance yet to take a shot at her – the opportunity to do so. Maybe we could do it from a helicopter and make it more exciting? (sorry – old habit I guess). Anyway, you can also read up on the latest Lindsay Lohan drama or other celebrity gossip too. Don’t forget to keep tabs on Arianna’s ascent to quasi-stardom. Dare I say she reminds me of a somewhat more intelligent version of Rush Limbaugh? Okay there are a few exceptions to that statement. Mainly Rush doesn’t have an accent.  In the end it’s the reader’s comments that take the cake.

In the comment section you can find out how to really talk trash in a politically correct manner with just a hint of entitlement. You can also learn how to contradict anything anyone says by citing the exception no matter how obscure and insignificant it might be. You can really make yourself feel like you’re smart or something if you’re not already. I would swear that there has to be a few unemployed PhDs posting a continual stream of condescending blather. I’ve never seen anything more unimaginative than a commenter copying and pasting a YouTube link as some kind of proof to support their argument. Is this what the liberal elite have become; A whole generation of cut and pasters taking an inordinate amount of pride in what might otherwise be called plagiarism? Well it’s a fine line I’m sure. If you were to look at the moderators as being something akin to a surrogate faculty then it seems as if that’ll get you an A for effort.  Seriously, this shooting from the hip with vitriol and vinegar doesn’t qualify as anything more than adolescent taunts echoing from recess time in the old school yard. It seems as if attitude is the new measure of intelligence. I don’t remember seeing courses in attitude when I was in college although I did take an expository writing class that allowed expression of attitude to certain extent. (Wow – three words that start with ‘ex’ in the same sentence). Bibliography is not the study of the bible.  

The problems in this country might be better addressed at an Adult Child of Alcoholics meeting rather than in a session of congress. It’s really too bad about Nixon. He would have never had any problems back in 72 if the only people that were looking into his shenanigans were political bloggers. Opinion isn’t what brings down a president: investigative reporting does however. Did I mention interns doubling as cunning linguists? With that said, I feel I have stumbled upon the reason Bush and company stayed in power for 8 years. These guys make Nixon look like a saint. They don’t even need a pardon because they’ve never been charged with anything. I guess no matter how upset the blogosphere gets about these things it still doesn’t have any more teeth than a newborn baby.

Getting back to HuffPo. Yeah I was attracted to it like an angry moth to a flame back in the days leading up to the 2008 elections. It was a good place to find the latest trashing points we could use against the conservatives. I admit I joined in and actually gathered a modest following of fans there. My ego liked that. I got a chance to polish my snark (if one’s snark can be polished) and let off some steam after having my Fox News fed boss regurgitate his meal all over me. Those were the good old days of people uniting together to overthrow an arrogant GOP elephant. Actually, the damn thing had shot itself and was already dying from the self-inflicted wound. But hey – that didn’t stop us for taking credit for it.

Looks like the shoe is on the other foot these days. Humble pie or crow; take your pick. Yup, things are looking pretty grim for the DFL Donkey (or maybe it’s an ass). I don’t want to sound negative about the way things are going with a democrat led everything; but I can’t help it. I sort of had an expectation that team democrat was going to knock some heads around but instead we seem to get this frustrated kindergarten teacher trying to get everyone in the classroom to get along. I think a few senators need to sit in the corner or take a time out. After the “you lie” incident I felt that Mr. Rogers had to kick some ass or let someone else step up to the plate that would. I quietly waited and scanned the headlines for any news at all that the GOP had been sent packing. Instead what I was greeted with were the headlines that tea baggers had high jacked the show. It seemed as if the right wing nuts could actually get away with treason. Two words: McCain Palin. Indeed I had voted for the correct candidate. Having those two (superlative) in office would have been certain disaster. But cheese and cracker folks what the hell is going on with these democrats? McCain and Palin indeed: I am grateful we were sane enough to take the responsibility to volunteer our time at the DNC, make phone calls, go canvassing and display the appropriate bumper stickers. The world is a better place because of it. So what am I really bitching about?

I got rid of my HuffPo shortcuts and refuse to go there for anything anymore. Sorry – buh bye. Yes it was like an opiate. I’d get up in the morning and walk over to the computer and pop open the browser and click on HuffPo without even thinking. I’d scroll down the list of articles and invariably wind up posting my half awake wisdom. You can bet I’d circle back several times to see if anyone had responded to my posts. Do you remember being a teenager? Do you recall the anxiety of waiting for a new love interest to call you up on the phone? Do you remember how everything was riding on that one person and that one phone call? Geezus get a life! It’s a pathetic commentary of the life of a 50 year old – sitting around glued to the Huffington Post waiting for validation. If eating junk food isn’t good for the body then it’s logical to conclude that junk news isn’t any good either and I would be better off not consuming it. Last time I looked in the mirror, my brain still resided between my ears and that qualifies it as part of my body. An information diet – now there’s a concept. Step one: I admit I am powerless over the Huffington Post and that it makes my life unmanageable. There is hope.