The Inquirer

Issue date: 5/2/08 Section: Opinion

From "Beavis and Butt-Head" to "Sportscenter," I have watched thousands of shows millions of times during my 21 years.

And it is increasingly clear that television is slowly destroying my intelligence. "Rock of Love," "The Real World," "Elimi-Date," and "Access Hollywood" - this is what television has become.

And I have evolved into a mindless zombie, only concerned about who will get voted off of "Dancing with the Stars."

Realizing I had developed a serious problem, I was actually excited about the start of the 2008 presidential race.

Instead of watching "The Hillz," I could watch CNN and network news shows to learn how the candidates planned to fix the problems facing our nation.

Ha! How naive.

After a year of watching nothing but shows like "Hannity & Colmes," "Hardball," and "Anderson Cooper 360," I still know very little of substance.

However, I do know a great deal about Barack Obama's bowling average, sniper fire in Bosnia and 3 a.m. phone calls.

I am more familiar with the Rev. Wright than I am with Obama, I know more about Hillary Clinton's tax returns than her stance on healthcare, and the only thing I know about John McCain is he is old and has a temper.

And here I thought it was possible to watch the major news shows and learn something about American politics.

Sadly, that is not the case.

Show after show I see nothing that has to do with America and proposed solutions to the problems we face.

I see only see surrogates for each candidate, attacking each other over past associations and church sermons.

After a year of watching the news, I am no more informed than when I started.

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