Unfortunately, as we see day in day out, time and time again, from MSNBC to Fox News, from New York Times to the Washington Post, from a disgraced Dan Rather, to a bloviating Bill O'Reilly, despite what they hope we'll believe our press has abdicated it's role as the watchdog for the PEOPLE. It is really just a watchdog for itself, it's profit center, and against anything that might expose that.

Unfortunately for us, we have to look at what is presented by both extremes, and moderate sources, and synthesize that into what the facts really support. Unfortunately for us, most of us don't have much time to spend with our kids, much less do the free press' job. In large part, I think that's why we are where we are today. Our press has fooled us into focussing on things that don't matter, didn't happen, or shouldn't even be in the public arena. They promote an agenda, a la the Clinton Surplus, repeating it over and over until it becomes accepted truth, and REAL truth, and our Nation itself is lost in the balance.

Just as a quick example, people talk about how great the Clinton economy was, but then they talk about all the corporate corruption and fraud that was disclosed and prosecuted shortly thereafter. But yet, no one in the press has put together and analysis that would show the impact on the economy these corporate fraud scandals would have had if the books WEREN'T being cooked a la Enron and the rest. What effect would it have had on GDP, Tax Revenues, etc. Would we still consider it a great economy? Hard to know....because the press, who should be doing that kind of fact checking and watchdogging, are too busy with things that People magazine and the National Enquirer fill their pages with.

Some point to the fact that this seems to be what people want to hear about and what interests them, but that's NOT what the "free press" is supposed to be focussing on in our society. Unfortunately, the New York Times, and CNN, and Fox News, and the like seem to have lost the memo.