Duped, 24 hours a day.

I think politics is a game. A constantly changing game. Influenced in large part by the 24-hour news cycle. Which means that news outlets, primarily TV and cable news, want to be reporting and updating news all the time. And so news, of sorts, is being created constantly. Even over relatively trivial happenings. Big deals are made out of virtually nothing. The least bit of controversy is repeated time and time again. Impressions are created. Riveted. By all this repetition. If Joe Wilson shouts "You lie" while Barack Obama addresses Congress, it's highlighted. Made a big story. Because it's controversial. And it feeds the 24-hour news cycle. Our news sleuths grasp at almost anything. Because they have to fill the air time. Nothing has to be made to seem like something. And politicains know this. They stir the pot, so to speak. Often, by just making things up. By being bombastic. By staging an event. By creating a scene. A false reality. Anything that makes news. Ain't hard to do. Yes, politicians have mastered the game. And the news media are sucked in. And the rest of us are the worst for it. Because we are being duped. Yes, 24 hours a day. --Jim Broede