The Numbing of This America
December 20, 2001
By Contributing Writer, Gloria LaLumia
September 11 HAS changed me, but not in the way the jingoist media would like to have it.
In the first 9 months of the year, I was angry and wounded because of the utterly horrifying events surrounding the 2000 election. I continued to be aware of politics as the year began and after the Inauguration, started working through my anger by paying very close attention to the talking heads on cable TV. The more attention I paid, the more I saw the spin aimed at legitimizing the person now in the Presidency. But, even more disturbing were the obvious efforts being made to trash the Presidency of Bill Clinton and the candidacy of Gore.
Enraged, I started jotting down notes about what was being said. It was almost like I had to see the comments down on paper before I could believe they were being spewed over the airwaves. Night after night I watched until finally I began putting it all together in a running report called Media Watch.
Looking back at what I wrote brings a certain “nostalgia” for those nights when I was so aggravated by Chris Matthews, Hannity, and O’Reilly spinning that huge tax cut. I was disappointed when Geraldo joined the bandwagon and CNN’s Isaacson went to the GOP and promised to spin for them. Sure, there were the slurs against the previous administration and the Condit saturation, but issues and policy were at least being brought up once in a while. The Spin Room enabled Bill Press to declare that the election had been stolen a few times before it was canceled. And gradually, in spite of all this pro-Bush bias, the tide began to turn as the hard facts seeped into the public’s mind and the patina of the Bush presidency began to tarnish, enough to get the Resident’s approval numbers down to around 50%.
Then the planes hit. Within a day or two, I knew my days of doing the Media Watch were over as the media became one non-stop extension of the White House press office. I thought I was watching the ghost of Hearst as the hysteria mounted.
Issues disappeared as well as constitutional rights. And then it happened. Emotionally, I couldn’t even turn on the TV and radio news. About the closest I could get to news was (and is) The Daily Show.
Where did this media junkie go?
In place of the "news" I’ve turned to Must See Comfort TV. A few dramas on the networks, but cable has become the real lifesaver. I’ve watched "When A Man Loves a Woman," 3 times. "Sleepless in Seattle," 3 times. "When Harry Met Sally." (I’ve become a Meg Ryan groupie by accident.) Also on the agenda--that ridiculous Roma Downey movie about pretending to be a rich businessman’s wife over Christmas, twice. This year’s annual holiday rerun of Tim Matheson and the Iowa-tractor-factory-that’s-going-to-close-movie. Family Ties. Love Boat. Who’s the Boss?, faithfully, every night, two episodes back to back (and I’m watching the second rerun of the series now, too.)
What’s so ironic is that cable schlock is soothing me even as cable "news" upset me.
September 11 did change me. I still keep up on politics and the news, but I’ve had to remove the emotional element forced on me by the cable and network talk shows. It’s the only way to survive. The wounds from last year have reopened and this time, the media is doing all it can to make sure they stay open by not only pushing the White House stories, but also repressing opinion.
So, the internet provides me news and supportive forums. It’s impersonal and unemotional, but offers a place to share my distress with others and helps ward off a stroke. I let Mike Malloy and Peter Werbe get their blood pressure up. Now I browse around the foreign media to get a larger perspective on the world, one which doesn’t always agree with the Administration’s agenda.
But my real ace in the hole nowadays in George Bush’s America is watching Must See Comfort TV. Angela kissed Tony last night on "Who’s the Boss?" At least I know where that’s going…which really IS a comfort since who knows where the country is going to end up?
By Gloria LaLumia
