I watched Bill Maher last night. Sometimes the man annoys me to no end. He has a tendency to badger his guests until they say what he wants them to say, but last night was a pretty good program. He had Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on to talk about his new book and the environment. For those of you who don’t know, RFK Jr. is an environmental crusader, and I get regular email from him to sign petitions or email my congressmen about the latest environmental attack by our oil drilling administration. Bill reported that the environment is not an issue in this election, and asked Robert whose fault that is-the republicans, the democrats, or the media. The answer is the media. He said that in 1988, Reagan abolished the fairness act that regulated how the media reported the news. Meaning that before 1988, the media had a responsibility to report what the American people needed to know to be an informed citizenry. After 1988, as RFK Jr. put it, the media became a for-profit industry only reporting on what appealed to our reptilian brains - violence, sex, fear-mongering and the local weather. So basically, we only get to know the information that best appeals to the most people. That thought makes me appreciate people like Bill Maher (attitude and all), and Jon Stewart all the more. I don’t bother with the news anymore (unless it’s Anderson Cooper, but then I’m not really watching for the news). I find the farcical Daily Show to be more informative than the 6:00 news. But I’m getting off the subject here. I do wonder, though, why the environment has not received more attention. This has been the worst environmental president in the history of the US. You’d think Kerry and Edwards would try to capitalize on that.
After his interview with RFK Jr., Bill had his guests talking about the election and of course the subject of national security came up. The best quote of the night came when Bill was attacking the people who question Kerry’s ability to defend the US. Bradley Whitford from the West Wing said, “how many times do you have to be shot in the ass before you’re more rough and tumble than a cheerleader from Andover?” That pretty much sums it up!