Sshhhhh -- Don't Tell Anyone

There's one good thing about waking up at this ungodly hour because it's too hot to sleep -- I can watch World News Now. The redeye of news shows attracts publicity sites that sound like fan pages -- and there's a reason. It's just too bad they don't run news shows this good at a decent hour. I mean, if news is supposed to be journalism, then you ought to be able to run news essays that last five minutes. If it's supposed to be entertainment (*grind teeth*), then it ought to be fun and funny, not boring and sordid and stupid. And if you're awake at 3:41 in the bloody morning, then yes, dang it, you want to hear jaunty R&B music and see pictures of a herd of horses somewhere out West while you're watching the city temperatures flash by.

You may notice that I haven't said anything about bias here, despite the fact that Kerry and Edwards were all over the World News Now episode I'm currently watching. Well...part of it is probably that I'm in the sort of zombie state the left usually attributes to us conservatives. (Although not to neoconservatives, who are more often characterized as Mad Political Scientists trained by Dr. Mengele, and who are apparently just even more evil if their last names happen to sound Jewish. Which just goes to show that the left watches too little anime, as Washuu-chan would have a very different program were she serving in the White House.) Being a zombie is actually the perfect way of watching leftist propaganda, which is why Stalinist movies on TCM practically demand their own drinking games. (And yet you must resist this temptation, as mixing vodka and thoughts of gulags is not exactly a smart move -- although very authentic to the period. Remember, alcohol is a depressant.)

But I'm really not talking about bias because, although it's there, it's not screaming at me. Even Sunday Morning on CBS tends to spend a lot of time and energy checking off boxes. Sneer at conservatives? Check. Fawn on liberals? Check. Express the correct political views so we get invited back to the correct cocktail parties? Check-a-roony. You don't get that vibe from the World News Now people (although I personally feel they would be great party guests). They are actually concerned about doing their jobs, as opposed to exhibiting their loyalty to the Party and the People. That's pleasant, you know? And it's a shame only the nightowls, out from under the eyes of their bosses, are allowed this pleasure.

But I think they are; they just don't admit it. World News Now was the first major network news show to be broadcast over the web. Also, Aaron Brown the CNN guy, who was the weekend ABC anchor before that, was also one of the charter anchors for World News Now. So next time you see him on CNN, remember that once he got to have fun....