How do I keep from crying?

Sometimes it’s hard not to cry, when you start to look seriously at all of the recent revelations about the ways in which false pretenses were used to send our military off to war. One of my pet peeves in the middle of this mess is the way in which our mass media do not help us uncover this stuff in time to do something real about it. The alternative media (Commondreams.org, NCR, etc.) help — but how do you get “ordinary” Americans who don’t much care about seeking out alternative sources of news to deal with it? One way is to get them hooked on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. In the middle of his satire are some wickedly funny and very pointed barbs at what passes for “news” today. Check out “Stephen Colbert faces the imaginable,” where they do a dead-on imitation of a talking-head pundit. Or “Corddry: Live free or die,” which is a dead-on imitation of the “objective” news political news reporter. (When you click on a video link, you’ll first see a 10 second ad, then blank space for another few seconds, then the video will begin.) Where else would you find a pundit responding so honestly to why it’s good that Saddam Hussein was found by pointing out how it demonstrates his craziness: “what kind of mad man refuses to produce evidence that he doesn’t have what he said he didn’t — Saddam had to be taken out or who knows what else he might not have done? it’s imaginable.”

One last note: speaking of crying, consider this rather pointed barb at John Kerry. As you vote in the primaries/caucuses this year, think about what we’ll need on our side against the Republicans — someone who presents a real, tangible, difference.