Another Opinion from the South
by Dewitt Sheffield

"Let's Change The Subject"

After responding to a rather long discussion about a New York governor's sexual activity, a guest appearing on a Fox News talk show said, "Let's drop the subject" (The O'Reilly Factor, March 13). And after watching several similar programs, each following the other, I was ready to agree with him. Let's drop the subject. But it depends. Why? Who wants to drop the subject? Not Foxs News Network nor MSNBC, nor CNN; not even the public.

I'm amazed that such a story, newsworthy or not, can produce so many high-paying TV jobs and get so much coverage. Therefore, who really wants to "drop the subject?" With 24 hours of endless "news" programs, one following the other, these "reporters" can make days and hours out of anything or everything which the press will label as "news."

Have you noticed that you can switch from one television network to the next and get the same yak all night long? Though, the program host and his guests are different on each station, the material presented is almost the same in both style and wording, and most often, "fair and balanced."

I'm also amazed at the number and length of the ads it takes to produce such programs, and just to tell us all of the details concerning an opinion a well known person may express as if we can't see through it for ourselves. Can't we decide what Ms. Ferraro meant by her remarks concerning Barack Obama and how it may affect a particular candidate's run for public office?But to drop the subject would limit the shallow commentary and hinder the sale of the books full of it, to say nothing about the advertising revenue to pay the commentators.

How about this? A brief statement is made about 15 or more people killed in Iraq, and the reporter moves on; no discussion about its meaning or implications for the candidates, our country or the whole world. Who would listen to that? But then the reporters pick up on someone's sexual affair or personal opinion and spend several program hours or days discussing them. However, if they dropped the subject, how would the networks fillup all that time with more important news reporting? And again, who would watch and listen for hours to quality programing?

A concluding thought, there may be a more serious aspect to all of this press yakking. Many of us tired old retired folks have the time to sit and listen for hours of social, religious and political gossip, and we need someone we can silently tell to go jump. No. Please don't drop the subject. Just keep on exploiting our shallow mentality. Who cares. It's so entertaining and so profitable. --- Did you hear that Obama went to his church for 20 years? Now, take that and go with it. Could it be that he may be a Muslim?