I haven’t written anything in a while but there has been too much f*ckery going on this past week on the Idiot Tube aka the American Media so I will get both of them out w/ one blog posting.

Once again, we are allowing ourselves to fall into the media trap and further confusing the whole notion of the ‘chicken vs. the egg…..which comes first?’. Is the American Media the fault for all the senseless news that we are being barraged with or are they simply honoring a demand from us ‘the  village idiots’?  Let us look at the Tiger and the Salahi cases. (google both of these if you haven’t heard of them but I am sure you have)

Case #1: The Tiger Woods Fiasco

Cheating:

Why the shock of the possibility that the man is cheating on his wife? Are we now going to act like cheating has boundaries? Newsflash: IT DOES NOT! Rich/poor/educated/black/blackasian/gay/midget/albino….we are all human and there is an innate human need to seek something ‘better’ or search for ‘greener grass’.  But there is also ‘common sense’ that says…at some point you have to stop searching and deal with what you have.  But we also have established that Common Sense is not that Common. Therefore, Mr. Woods is just another guy who failed in that aspect of being human.

***Sidenote*** Cheating sometimes the time is inevitable, part of life (reasons stated above). The other times, there are contributing factors that we refuse to discuss.  If you have EVER been cheated on, have you asked yourself….’did I do anything to drive this person away?’ or do we always rush to judgment and blame the cheater. If you get cheated on by all of your partners, you might want to check yourself.

I don’t condone cheating but for the simple fact that it happens so often and sometimes by the people we least expect might mean that we need to change our conversations from blame-passing to some really deep thinking.

Black People and Race:

Now some black people went from f#ck Tiger and his non-black claiming self to ‘Fuck Tiger- that’s what he gets’. WTF!!! He wasn’t claiming 100% black PreGolfClubSaga and he won’t be PostGolfClubSaga.  Kobe is still Kobe. Ice T, Ice T. Magic Johnson won’t change tomorrow. Find something else to focus on. Takes too much to hate one people who aren’t as black as you.

Iconic Figure/Endorsements:

Once again if you are upset because Tiger was supposed to be a good role model for your kids – Newsflash: your kids are already FUCKED (couldn’t hold that one back). If they were on their way to being screw ups/cheaters/bad golfers etc, it is YOUR fault as a parent, not Tiger’s. Stop looking for someone else to blame and focus on your own household.

Message to Tiger:

Do whatever you have to do to fix your home, avoid the interviews and please don’t feed into this bullshit. You are still are great golfer and continue to perfect your game.  You will be loved for golf and I still won’t care about your personal life unless you start  f*cking little kids with golf clubs.

Case #2: The White House Party Crashers:

This one is pretty simple….

For the Secret Service:

SHAME ON YOU. You FAILED. This is the POTUS (just learned this term few weeks ago…..now I am forcing myself to use it) we are talking about, not crashing a Hugh Hefner bunny party. That being said….let the Secret Service and Dept. of Homeland Security figure out how to do better. Hopefully the POTUS will use this opportunity to address HIS OWN protection.  Do we want the Secret Service to come give a bunch of statements about what they will do to fix this situation? I hope not, because it’s the SECRET service.  I do not NEED to know what they do and despite the media’s watering tongues for info, you shouldn’t either….Just keep the (Vice)POTUS and their families out of harms way.

Message to the Salahi’s:

I hope your asses join the Balloon Boy family in jail for between 3-5 years…..no more – no less.  The justice system needs scapegoats to teach American’s a lesson.  The attention whoring needs to stop somewhere.  There is only so much you can do to chase your 15 mins of fame.  Stick to youtube, twitter, sex tapes and faux-reality shows.  When you start depleting resources of the public (ex. Mobilizing and entire state’s police/fire/EMT services) then you should be punished for it.

In Conclusion:

Hopefully this is an example to the rest of us on how the American Media is turning us into a bunch of idiots — from the ones that sit and watch RIDICULOUS reality TV Shows, actually dial in to vote for contestants, actually go out and audition and even worse subject ourselves to it  — that getting an education and living a ‘normal’ life is not a thing of the past. 15 minutes of fame is exactly what it is because all that tabloid money won’t buy you happiness. Don’t get me wrong….I have no problem w/ youtube, sensible reality shows, tabloid news etc, we all need a little comedy in our lives (I know I do) but when you are turning to supposed ‘NEWS CHANNELS’ and this is what they are throwing in your face and you sit there and watch it…….please GO PLAX YOURSELF!!!!

I heard a rumor that today was ‘World Aids Day’. If you turn on your Idiot Box today, tune to CNN and actual real life issues like deadly infectious diseases, wars/world peace, hunger crisis, undereducated kids etc aren’t been discussed ……TURN THE SHIT OFF!!!

***I am actually upset I took 15 mins of my day to write and post this but: 1. I don’t claim to be a real journalist and 2. my little blog post does not compare to the fellatio fest of the American Media hype***

I have to admit I have not been particularly abreast of the happenings of the recent elections in Iran and the subsequent fallout over the results. There…I got that out of the way. But, today as I sit at my desk bored, I found myself on CNN’s website getting some background to the issue all over the news. And, two things have come to light. One: Twitter is somehow being heralded as the new tool of the revolution. (And, here I thought Twitter was just for idiots with way too much time on their hands. Who knew the revolution would be “tweeted”?) Two: Why the hell is the United States of America expected to be every nation’s big brother?

Now, as I understand it there have been some issues with reporters, protesters and others being detained for their activities and coverage of the events surrounding the election. Well, that does suck. Not to be snide, because I really do believe that democracy should not be limited in the people’s expression. In layman’s terms, that means if one doesn’t like the outcome of an election then protesting the results is fair game. Also, I understand that Iran has taken the liberty to remove foreign correspondents from their posts. Some folks from the BBC in Tehran, Newsweek correspondents and others were “detained without charge” by the Iran government. Again, that is a foul in the play of democracy. By all means, I am not on board with false imprisonment and missing journalists.

Here’s where it gets tricky for me though. What the hell is the U.S. supposed to do about this? Iran and its government have been unstable for years. The U.S. Congress and Senate had this irrelevant vote last Friday to condemn the actions of the Iranian government. And? To me, and correct me if I’m wrong, that is like asking your big brother to confront a bully by “glaring hard” at them from across the room. Seriously, what viable solution does a resolution passed hundred of thousands of miles away in another country say to Iran? Did you guess nothing? Because if so, you get the prize for the right answer. That prize is nothing…a further illustration of how stupid the resolution is because it, like the non-existent prize I just doled out to you, means has no value.

The ironic thing about this is the U.S. had the exact same issue each term that former President Bush “won”. I personally worked on the 2004 election in the state of Ohio and saw how Kenneth Blackwell “hand-delivered” (i.e. doctored results for the win) the election to Bush. People were outraged over what they perceived was yet another stolen election by Bush and his team. But…he served his term in spite of public doubt and suspicion. What I’m trying to say is if we couldn’t do something serious about the elections in question here, what the hell are we supposed to do over there? And how much more outraged would we (U.S. citizens) be if back in 2004 Iran issued a resolution about the reprehensible behavior of our government in not dealing with the election fallout in a way they thought appropriate?

This is not to say that the U.S. cannot have its opinion on the circumstances in Iran. But, Iran is developing nuclear weapons and just waiting for the right opportunity to use them. Do we really want THAT? Because then what would happen? What military force do we have here on our soil to deal with that? Last I checked, our military is occupied for the foreseeable future in Iraq and Afghanistan. So to all those pundits backing the “President Obama needs to do something” idea, please tell us all what the hell he, or the rest of the U.S. for that matter, is supposed to do?

The theme for this week is obviously “Retarded”.  I can’t help it that seemingly normally developed human beings have been deliberately ignoring the rational parts of their brains over the last week.  I blame it all on the Pope.  Every since his retarded comment that condom use in Africa is making the HIV/AIDS epidemic there WORSE, the rest of the world seems to have tried to overcompensate by trying to “out retard” the Pope.  I guess you can’t have the supreme leader of an entire religion looking like the biggest retard in the World.  Something just seems blasphemous about that.  Anyway, the latest battalion of retarded Storm Troopers in the War on Sensibility is, no surprise here, the media.  I know the media likes to claim that everyone likes to pick on them in times of crisis, but quite frankly, they make it so easy, with the big ass “Kick Us…We’re Idiots” signs they wear on their backs.  Let’s face it, when you ask Karl Rove to give his opinion on what President Obama needs to do, you’re asking to not be taken seriously.  Asking Karl Rove to analyze President Obama’s success is like asking the Devil for life instructions on how to get to Heaven.  If you don’t report the opposite of what he says as the truth, then talking to him is pointless.

The media’s idea of “Putting the President’s feet to the fire” is asking single minded, narrowly focused questions that don’t see the big picture.  To be fair, 8 years of a functional retard answering your questions probably does force you to become one-dimensional and even studs your journalistic growth.  I understand that the press needs time to fully comprehend and adjust to the fact that we now have a President that speaks in complete sentences and tries to explain his plans instead of just going up to the podium, smirking and saying “Can’t answer your questions because of National Security.”  However, when you have members of the press like Mika Brzezinski, co-host on Morning Joe, saying things like “It scares me that the President is so calm and relaxed when talking about the economic crisis”, I really wonder if the retardation epidemic in the American Media has reached a point of no return.  What the hell does Brzezinski want from the President?  Should he get up there and start quivering and shaking, saying “I don’t know WHAT THE FUCK WE’RE GOING TO DO!!!!  Save yourselves, buy foreign!!!!”  Has the media become this brain dead that when we have a leader that remains steady and focused…we complain that he’s steady and focused.  Isn’t that what separates leaders from followers? Leaders confidently go head first into a bad situation, focused and with a plan…while followers scream from the sideline “WTF are you doing??? Are you crazy?  Don’t go in there!!!!”

But this isn’t the only idiotic complain the press has had about a President that has been in office for only 2 months (Forget the fact that he’s already been more open and accessible than Bush was the last 4 years).  The latest moronic complaint has been that the President is trying to do too many things at once.  Sure, everyone agrees that Health Care and Greener, more efficient Energy is needed in the long run to transform our economy…but damn the President for trying to do that all now.  This is exactly like when John McCain tried to cancel that debate before of the economic crisis and Obama responded with the “The President is supposed to be able to handle multiple things at once.”  Right now, our economy is broken.  President Obama is trying to fix it…not just the problem here and now, but the long term problems as well.  It’s like when you take your car to get new tires and when they take the old tires off they see that you also need new brakes.  Instead of putting the new tires on with the failing brakes, the best thing to do is take care of it all at once.  Why?  Because chances are…once you get the new tires, you’re going to forget about how urgent it is to get new brakes.  Not only that, but sure, it make cost extra money that you don’t want to spend now, but it’ll save you from having to pay out for an accident (or worth, Death) when your brakes fail  Same thing with the President’s solution for the economy.  The notion that the President has to put all his focus on fixing the Banking system and Wall Street is the same tunnel-vision view that President Bush had on a number of issues and ultimately got us in this mess.   The media seems to love to pile on to the President for doing too much, even though most admit that all of what the President is doing is interconnected.  It just doesn’t make any sense.

For the 60 days he’s been in office, President Obama has had to deal with the following charges from the media:

1.  He’s too frank

2.  He’s too serious

3.  He’s not hopeful enough

4.  He’s too hopeful

5.  He’s punch drunk (Because apparently he smiled and laughed too much during the 60 minutes interview)

6.  He’s too “professorial” i.e.  He’s too intelligent

7.  He’s not giving enough substance

8.  He’s too boring (when he tries to give substance…sorry folks, but economics isn’t exciting)

9.  He’s over exposed (Apparently even though they are frightened about socialism, the media longs for the days when the President did what he wanted and didn’t try to answer questions).

10.  He’s too relaxed and calm in a crisis (Seriously…WTF is wrong with that?)

And there’s plenty more that would take me all day to go through.  The media just doesn’t seem to understand what they are dealing with when it comes to President Obama.  This is clear from the exchange between Ed Henry and President Obama yesterday.  CNN claims that Obama showed a “flash of anger” when he told Henry that the reason it took the White House a couple extra days to respond to the AIG bonus fiasco was because he “likes to know what he’s talking about before he speaks.”  That wasn’t anger, that was just the truth.  Don’t believe me, look for yourself (and then see the way Ed Henry and Anderson Cooper try to imagine up anger from Obama).  Clearly Henry was trying to save face from the fact that Obama’s answer actually made sense.  We’re not dealing with an idiot like Bush that went off the cuff saying dumb shit every other day and who had a super secretive, power grabbing Vice President in Dick Cheney and a slimy advisor like Karl Rove.  Instead of rushing out and opening his mouth about things he doesn’t understand or know about, President Obama likes to take a few extra days, especially with something not as urgent or critical as bonuses, before he speaks.  That’s called “intelligence.”  I know it’s been missing in the oval office for the last 8 years, but I expect the media to recognize it when they see it.

I guess it’s too much to ask for critical thinking from the media right now.  They had 8 years of covering the “Special Olympics of Presidencies”, they need some time to adjust to covering true professionals.  No wonder more and more young people are turning to comedians for their news.

The biggest story of the week was the climax of the Jon Stewart/Daily Show vs Jim Cramer/CNBC battle. Well, that came to fruition Thursday night and it clearly wasn’t even a close fight. Kriss and Dylan play a few clips from the interview and discuss why Jon Stewart has become a voice for the people. Tucker Carlson apparently doesn’t appreciate Jon Stewart’s brilliance, but that’s probably because Stewart was integral in getting his show canceled. We play the clip from Stewart’s appearance on Crossfire as well as part of Stephen Colbert’s performance at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner. Other topics include DC’s HIV rate and women that claim to be independent but are really just too picky.

There’s a problem with getting the show on iTunes for new subscribers. If you already get the show on iTunes you’re fine but if you’re looking to find us in the iTunes store it’ll probably be a couple of weeks until we’re back up and running. You can manually add us to iTunes by going to Advanced->Subscribe to Podcast and then add this url. We’re looking for writers for TheInsanityReport.com and guests for the Insanity Check Podcast. If you are interested, email us at InsanityCheck@theInsanityReport.com. Also hit us up if you’re good with graphic designs or music production (we’re looking for a new opening for the podcast). Join the Facebook Group for weekly updates on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Albert Einstein once said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.  If we are to stick to that definition then I’m trying to figure out why it seems Congress and the media want to be diagnosed as clinically insane. The American people spoke on November 4^th stating that they wanted change and so far, less than a month into his administration, President Obama seems to be attempting to keep that promise.  However he is meeting resistance in the form of “Business as usual” politics.

Democrats remind me of that bullied kid in high school. Fed up with how they were treated, they start training to be a UFC fighter to take out their frustrations. Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid are those bullied kids turned UFC warriors, except they are a lot less glamorous and they have a glass chin. Eight years of George W. Bush and Republicans treating them like the nerdy kid in class with the 2-inch thick glasses have left Democrats itching for revenge.  They are reading from the same bullying playbook that the Republicans used on them, but we, the American, people are tired of politicians treating politics as if it’s some kind of game to be won.  If Democrats force their policies down the Republican’s throats, then all we have is a role reversal. Democrats will spend the next 4 – 8 years happy while Republicans will be completely disenfranchised.  I might not agree with those politically to the right of me, but I at least want us to be comfortable enough with the way the country is going that we can be cordial.  Putting $246 million for Hollywood studios and money for contraceptives in the stimulus package was a clear poke in the eye to Republicans and only served as a way for them to rally against the President.  A pretty stupid thing to do at such an urgent time. But as stated before, these are the glass chinned Democrats, so of course they backed down from really forcing their will on Republicans. All it took was one well placed shot to shut them up.

Republicans on the other hand are being just as resistance to change.  The American people voted overwhelmingly for Obama’s policies, particularly his plans for the economy.  Republicans arguing that the stimulus package should be almost exclusively tax cuts for corporations and individuals blessed with high incomes is like asking for a bigger shovel when you find yourself in a hole.  For the last eight years we gave tax cuts to big corporations and the rich and you see what we have to show for it.  Republicans will say that we need to stop crying over spilled milk but when you consider that the glass of milk has caused well over a trillion dollars in debt, I don’t see the complaints stopping any time soon.

And finally there’s the media that everyone, myself included, likes to blame.  Some of that blame is warranted some is not.  In this particular situation, I would like to call out the media for not doing its job.  When I turn on the television or open up a newspaper, I’m inundated with a bunch of opinions on the stimulus.  “It’s too big”, “It’s not going to work”, “I hate it”, “I love it”, etc., etc., etc.  What happened to the cold hard facts?  Why can’t the media go through the proposed stimulus line by line and explain to us what is in it?  Republicans claim the package is laden with pork. Democrats say only a small 1% has unnecessary programs. Where is the media to cut through the politics and provide us, the American people, with the truth?  How about the media take the text of the bill, give it to one of their interns who are probably busy getting coffee or diving through dumpsters for A-Rod’s used steroids needles and have them create a graphic that breaks down each part of the bill so that the American people themselves can understand where this money is going.  The job of the media is to keep Government honest. Opinions can be swayed and bought, reality and facts though are concrete.

President Obama and his plans should be held to the scrutiny that President Bush should have been held to but wasn’t. Politics will be politics. But that doesn’t mean Democrats should pull out their wish lists. Blinding supporting all of the President’s programs is lunacy. At the same time, Republicans should not oppose him out of spite or out of some childish need to stand out. And finally the media should definitely refrain from pouring gasoline on the partisan fires sparked up by the two parties because in the end, we will all burn.

Let’s all work together to usher in change.

You might have noticed that a new episode of the Insanity Check hasn’t been posted. Well, we had to rearrange some things and instead of recording last night, we’re recording tonight. To hold you over, this post is a collection of random thoughts (most which will be discussed on the show tonight) I’ve had over the last week.

Madam Secretary

The big political story is the speculation as to whether President-Elect Obama will select Hillary Clinton as his Secretary of State. I can’t for the life of me understand why the media is so shocked by this. After the primary season I told several people I could see Senator Clinton working in an Obama Administration. I was thinking either Secretary of State, Supreme Court or maybe even Attorney General. Sure, he didn’t pick her as Vice President and he probably didn’t even really consider her. That would have been a hard pill to swallow even for Obama…but a cabinet position is a good idea. I’ll be honest though, I do sympathize with those Obama supporters who feel like Christopher Hitchens. The Clintons did run a negative campaign, suggested Obama wasn’t experienced enough (while talking up John McCain) and while they might not have directly played the race card they were dealing from the bottom of the deck. And my position still stands that Hillary Clinton still isn’t the pinnacle of Foreign Policy people make her out to be. I think Olbermann said it best, if she is Secretary of State and gets to Bosnia…we’re all going to have a hard time keeping a straight face. With all that said, I still think she makes and excellent choice. First off, keep your friends close and your enemies closer.  Yeah, her and Bill campaigned hard for Obama but still, why take the chances.  Secondily, because she’s a distraction. Obama will have to make some tough decisions leading up to the day he officially takes office. What better way to do that than to have the media digging through Clinton dirt? The media is like a playful puppy. Throw them a Clinton chew toy and watch them entertain themselves.

The one thing I do find interesting about this is that the major thing holding back the appointment is questions over Bill Clinton’s finances and connections with the Clinton Foundation and his speaking roles. Wait a minute. Wasn’t Hillary Clinton almost the Democratic Nominee? Why the Hell is this a problem now? Did no one stop and think about vetting the former President…WHEN HIS WIFE WAS RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT?!?!?!

Auto Industry

So the Big 3 Detroit automakers (Ford, Chrysler and GM) are begging for a bailout. Amazingly enough, the American Taxpayers seem a little weary of the idea of another corporate bailout. I guess hearing that AIG spent $440,000 on executives getting spa treatments and under lavish accommodations at the St. Regis after Congress spent $85 billion to bail them out or that Wachovia brokers got an all-expense paid Greek Isles cruise, has left the taxpayers a little hesitant to send more money to big corporations with slightly retarded management. Unfortunately, letting even one of these companies fail (and GM is talking about not even lasting through the year) could have a devastating effect on our economy. The amount of jobs lost would be horrendous. We’re not talking Wallstreet brokers who made millions gambling people’s money…we’re talking blue collar factory workers. So, the bailout, while we might not like it…will happen. But how did we get here? Why are American Car companies in so much trouble? It’s simple really. Their cars suck. Not only do their cars suck but their vision and innovation are crap. Think about this. Toyota came out with one of the ugliest cars I’ve ever seen, The Prius. They’ve been killing though. Why? Gas is above $2 a gallon and has been as high as $4 – $5. What did GM do? They came out with the H2 Hummer…the gas guzzler that gets like 5 miles a gallon. They bought into that American macho-ism that Bush himself pushed a few years back that we as American’s don’t have to change our lifestyle and that the more gas it guzzles the more American we are. Yeah…that worked until people started losing their homes cause they were dumping half their mortgage payment into just filling up their tanks. What GM and the other 2 automakers should have been doing was coming up with a viable hybrid car that doesn’t make me want to puke when I look at it. I’ve seen pictures of the Chevy Volt (the real one, not the concept car) and I’m stunned at how regularly ugly it is. Stop it. Just because we ask for a fuel efficient car, that doesn’t mean we want something dangerously small (Smart Car), something that looks like the hunchback of Notre Dame (Prius) or something boring and bland (the Volt). No, sticking blue halogens in it does not make it sexy. If the Big 3 were to make a semi-luxury sedan that was roomy, had decent features and got 35 – 40 mpg they wouldn’t be in the world of hurt they are now. And don’t tell me it’s not possible. My 2003 BMW gets 28 mpg. If BMW can do it, Ford, GM and Chrysler can.

Traitor Joe

If you thought that Obama’s commanding win and the Democrats gaining a bigger majority in Congress meant that Democrats grew a backbone, you are mistaken. Why the fuck is Joe Lieberman keeping his Homeland Security Committee chair? Not only did this man actively campaign against Obama, but the fact that he actually cosigned the Sarah Palin pick should mean he forfeits any rights to talk about Homeland Security or Foreign Policy. Seriously, Pelosi and Reid need to grow some backbone. They’re really starting to disgust me.

Ugh…Media Bias?

I need for someone to come forward and tell me how the media treated Sarah Palin badly. I’m talking about the mainstream media…not the blogs, not the tabloids…the real media. I keep seeing women strapping on their “Captain Save-a-Hoe” bras to try to save Palin and I just don’t see why. Did you see the Gibson interview? Did you see the Couric interview? Did you see the difficulty she had in answering direct questions in the Vice Presidential debate? She tried to say she was just the regular ole hockey mom, yet the RNC spent $150,000+ on clothes and accessories for her and her family. Yeah, Obama wears $1,500 suits, but he bought them himself. There’s a big difference.  Sarah Palin was scrutinized because she was a bad politcal pick.  A heart beat away from the Presidency and she listed binnoculers as her foreign policy creditentials.

As for the media being “in the tank” for Obama. You damn right they were. It’s amazing, the media wrote more positive stories about the guy who ran the more positive campaign. The media was harsher on the guy who picked an inexperienced hockey mom from Alaska as his running mate, said the fundamentals of the economy were strong, suspended his campaign as a gimmick, suggested his opponent was a socialist and Marxist, etc etc etc. Geez, I wonder why Obama got more positive spin.  Maybe I should write a book about it…

For more topics make sure you check out the next episode of the Insanity Check. It’ll be posted tomorrow morning. Other topics to be discussed:

• Threats against Obama
• People getting book deals off the election
• Celebrities going broke
• Spam is the new steak
• And many other topics