MediaMyopic

The image of Silda Spitzer, a successful, driven and seemingly independent woman, stand belittled at the podium beside her husband Eliot Spitzer as he revealed — to his constituency and the world — his philandering with prostitutes, is a rather unsettling one given this period in time. While I’m not one to tout feminist theory, I certainly expect more from women given the progress made since the 60s. And women should be ashamed of her — not because she was the root of the conflict for ‘not pleasing her man,’ as quack Laura Schlessinger suggested, — but because she’s treating infidelity with such nonchalance. Today marriage is more of a mirage, a front or political manuever (as Hillary Clinton has shown us) rather than an act of sanctity. When were relationships reduced to PR moves? There should have been one person at that podium facing the repercussions of his actions. And the issue is far from isolated: new NY Governor David Paterson recently admitted to a number of extramarital affairs, and Chelsea Clinton snapped at a Butler University student who questioned Hillary’s decision to ’stand by’ Bill after getting busy with an overweight intern sporting a beret. Ah well, at least Tammy Wynette’s singing your praises.

Remember when the War in Iraq used to be a hot topic in the media? Yeah, me neither. Five years after invading Iraq under the guise of ‘terrorism,’ the military is no closer to an exit strategy or to winning the war, for that matter. And mainstream media can’t be bothered. More U.S. soldiers succumbed to roadside bombs last week, bringing the total troop fatality close to 4,000; meanwhile a suicide bomber took the lives of 40 plus civilians and injured 60 others. According to Newsweek, Republican presidential nominee John McCain has vowed to stay in Iraq another 100 years, if that’s what it takes to ensure victory. The hubris isn’t much better on the Democratic side; during her victory speech after the Ohio and Texas primaries, Hillary Clinton promised to ‘win’ the war. First, somebody needs to define ‘win.’ Secondly, Clinton began her campaign with the false promise of implementing an exit strategy within 60 days of taking office. But my frustration with the lack of Iraq dialogue subsided, momentarily, when I caught this sketch (below) on MADtv. At least the comedians got it right.

True or false, everything makes Fox news these days. And now the conservative network has taken sensationalism to a whole new level since Rupert Murdoch’s MySpace acquisition. Every time a child goes missing, or a school endures another ‘bloody melee,’ Fox reports the most minute details on the victims and villains — their favorite song, background information, and personality inferences. Where do they get this information? Not family. Not friends. Not even opportunistic neighbors looking for a few seconds on the camera. Fox’s most tapped into source is MySpace, a site where: 1) someone can make a page about anyone they want to. 2) Pages can be inactive for several years, with out-of-date information. 3) People can manipulate other pages by posting misleading pictures or inaccurate information. And 4) Viewers can misinterpret sarcastic pop culture references or inside jokes among friends. Fox’s coverage of former NY Governor Eliot Spitzer’s fall from grace was emblematic of the absurdity. The network’s stories of the hooker Spitzer sought services from, Ashley Dupre, relied solely on the woman’s MySpace page — the latest fact-gathering shortcut of Fox ‘journalists.’ The famous “a source told Fox” has been replaced with “according to MySpace.”

The anti-corruption bully of New York has proven, once again, that Democrats prefer sex scandals over fiscal scandals. Speaking at a press conference earlier today, Governor Eliot Spitzer admitted his involvement in an extensive prostitution ring. According to the New York Times, court documents name Spitzer in the Emperors Club VIP ring — a club that charges up to $5,500 an hour for its whores. The extent of his involvement, at this point, remains unclear. What politicians do in their private lives doesn’t concern me — and shouldn’t concern you – but this behavior is problematic, particularly in a presidential election year, because the right-wing spin doctors are standing by with their appeals of moral majority and family ‘values.’ Thankfully, Spitzer  isn’t running a presidential campaign but incidents like these only fuel the fire of the right.

Would you be surprised if someone told you the founder of the Weather Channel, a seasoned meteorologist himself, disparaged the evidence of global warming? Well, you should be. Weather Channel founder, John Coleman, has made a second career of criticizing the green movement over recent years but crossed the line this week when – speaking at the 2008 International Conference on Climate Change in New York – he suggested suing Al Gore over the work he’s done to bring the issue to the limelight. The Nobel Peace prize recipient, former vice president and winner of the 2000 U.S. presidency, has devoted his life to a cause that may affect all of mankind, and now a vocal minority of right-wingers hope to bring him down again with egregious accusations that spit in the face of science. It looks like Coleman is a businessman first, ‘scientist’ second. President Bush used to echo the same sentiments, accepting political rhetoric over scientific evidence. It should come as no surprise that both he and Coleman hail from the state no one is supposed to ‘mess’ with. On an issue that not only impacts human life, but the planet we exist on, let’s not fall into the trap of listening to another uninformed Texan.

What used to be a Saturday Night Live airtime formula of 60 minutes for advertisements, 20 minutes for painfully awkward Amy Poehler skits and 10 minutes for everybody else has shifted slightly over recent weeks. Since reemerging from the writers’ strike, SNL has devoted many of its minutes to igniting the Hillary Clinton campaign. Two weeks ago, Tina Fey returned to Weekend Update to lead a diatribe on Clinton critics. Last Saturday, viewers saw the ‘real’ Hillary – if there is such a thing – earn plenty of face time, while Fred Armisen unfairly portrayed a slow-witted, naive Obama. SNL has done little to mask its political agenda, as of late. Ironically, when Hillary was on top of the polls last fall, she snubbed SNL’s invite to host the fading show. Now that momentum is lost, she is bringing her desperate pitch of ‘change’ to late night television, while the show kowtows to her fizzling campaign. But there’s good news for Obama supporters: SNL stopped churning the laughs years ago.