That comatose figure before the television is me. And the images flickering in her face are not of the Berlin Philharmonic playing Bartok or documentaries on China. They are The Planet's Funniest Animals or reruns of The Munsters.
I watch television, and I use it as a drug. Let no one call me a television snob. But let me also draw a line in the sandbox: Free humans should never have television forced on them. This is happening more and more, and it gives me the creeps. I know others who feel likewise.
There's no escaping TV. It's in the doctor's office, the gym and the jury-pool waiting room. It's in the bar, whether there's a game on or not. It's at the airport, where CNN holds everyone hostage. Note how the monitors are carefully placed around the boarding areas so that no seat is beyond their grasp.
Hospital waiting rooms are perpetually under television domination. The detainees may want to read, pray or listen to their own thoughts. They are not allowed to. Television must be watched.
http://www.projo.com/opinion/columnists/content/projo_20060101_01harr.2e9b69e.html