I Don't Know About You -- But I'm Totally Poped...

[Sheila Samples]

After being Shivoed and Poped to a pulp, I get a 'Breaking News' email from MSNBC that insurgents had attacked Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison, and had 'inflicted 18 US casualties.' How many of these were injuries or deaths was not clear.

Of course, the mainstream news networks, especially CNN and Fox, have their priorities, and the death of a Polish religious leader is far more important than 18 deaths, or even 1,536 deaths of US men and women, so they did not interrupt their continuous 'mass' at the Vatican to mention the bloody mess in Iraq.

I was outraged. Clicking frantically from station to station, muttering under my breath, tears running down my cheeks, shaking my fist at the television... Adam, my grandson, was sitting at the other computer. He watched me in silence for a few minutes, then asked, 'Are you crying because that pope died?'

I babbled, 'No, I'm crying because 18 American soldiers were possibly killed, and all the media can think of is how great the Pope is...'

'Hmmmm,' Adam, who is always practical, said, 'Eighteen out of how many?'

'It doesn't matter how many!' I screeched. 'Even ONE is too many! It could be Jackie, Justin, Jaymie -- even you and Aaron -- because by the time this mess is over you'll be old enough to be drafted! Don't you understand?' I gasped, forgetting for a moment that I was yelling at an 11-year-old -- 'If we don't get that monster out of there, it WILL be you! And I don't intend to let that happen --'

'There...t-h-e-r-r-r-r-r-e,' Adam said soothingly, 'Don't be upset, dear Nanny. Just calm down...Everything's going to be all right....'

And, like all good little Republicans, he turned back to the computer and continued surfing Yugeoh, where monsters lurk behind every corner -- but the good guy always wins.

So, totally 'Poped,' I clicked onto Hoyle and started playing poker. But I couldn't help wishing that Adam's sister, Sarah, was here. Only 9, but a natural-born Democrat and an awesome Bush-hater, Sarah would know what to do.

(Note: The number of US casualties went from 18 to 20, and is now at 44

[libhill]

1. It's obvious

that the media whores will grasp at anything to distract public attention from Iraq, and why not? After all, our Great Presdent done told us when he flew onto that ship nigh on a year back, that the war was done over. An' them Iraq folks are all democratized now, so not to worry -

[demokatgurrl]

13. EXACTLY- it's all a bloody distraction, orchestrated

by Bushco and facilitated by MSM. Me, I play poker too, and watch sports, and read subversive publications and generally avoid any and all news except what I see on here.

[K8-EEE]

2. Recommended I TOTALLY RELATE!!!

I get so frustrated with the "woohooo! kickass! everything's gonna be OK" mindless mindset, and with the news downplaying and ignoring this national tragedy that is the Iraq war. Didn't GWB say it's a "generational commitment" or something?? I feel like screaming at the "security moms" in their SUVs, do you want that baby in your car seat there to be drafted into this goddmaned mess??

How can anybody think that it's keeping us SAFE? Having spend so much resources on phone "curveball" type threats, when a real one comes up, we're screwed.

[otohara]

3. I Signed up For Free Napster to Avoid

all this - by the time my 14 days is over, so should the 24/7 Pope news. In the mean time, I'm having a blast listening to songs I haven't heard in a very long time.

[ananda]

4. Too poped to poop..

.. or is it..

too pooped to pope? LOL

Is there any other news on TV right now?

Sue

[i miss america]

22. No...just that the pope is still dead

[Southsideirish]

5. I'm surprised by the level of coverage. As a Catholic, its interesting

to me but I can see where it is way more than any non-Catholic would ever possibly want to know.
I wonder what is their motivation? I can see that the pomp and medieval rites would be attractive to media people but do they think that other folks want to see it 24/7?

[jonnyblitz]

6. I tire of any topic 24/7 no matter my interest in it or not.

especially when there are no new developments.

[ClintonTyree]

7. It's always like this after a Pope's death...........

I can remember a few (I'm 54) and I can remember non-stop coverage until the white puff of smoke comes out of the chimney.
I don't agree with it, but the MSM doesn't exactly give a crap about news any more, just sensationalist bullshit.

[tanyev]

17. I'm surprised, too.

And I find myself wondering what some of the freakier fundies who don't even think Catholics are Christian are thinking. Not to mention that their Glorious Leader is flying flags at half mast for the Pope and maybe even going there for the funeral. Could be another burr under the saddle in fundie-land.

[MADem]

28. He is DEFINITELY GOING. So is Blair.

This is a nod to the 'Political Leadership of the Pontiff' vis a vis the Iron Curtain, Solidarity, care for the sick, aged, young, and so forth--he is not only a religious head, but he is also a Head of State. I'm sure the chimp's minders are FREAKING--there are supposed to be two million people heading to Rome. You can't get a plane ticket if you need to visit your ailing nonno....it's head for Naples or Milan, and take the train, and even that is a tough go!

Let's hope they don't call a scioppero (strike) for better wages, that would totally mess the events up.

[Nikki Stone 1]

8. "Death Watch: 2005!"

All the deaths except the important ones.

An attack on Abu Ghraib? Sorta like the Bastille. The army should have burned that place to the ground as soon as they had control of the area.

[Hosnon]

9. It's just one of those times...better than watching Peterson IMO...eom

[buff2]

10. I'm sick of it too.

I thought when Terri finally died,we would be able to hear other things going on in the world....but no,now it's the pope 24/7. The media whores can only concentrate on one topic at a time. They will pound this to death until the next piece of bullshit happens. I am watching more movies now than I have ever watched in my life. I can't stomach this country anymore....it's like we have crossed over into the twilight zone and we're never coming back.The priorities are all wrong,everything is so mixed up now.The fundies have taken over and our rights are being stripped everyday. The gas is so high you can't afford to really go places and do things like we did before and the gas going up on a daily basis is a domino affect...EVERYTHING else goes up with it,so we can't win.If we don't get these corporate repukes out of office,we will NEVER have any kind of a decent life...just the ones who are wealthy. We will be damn lucky if we survive. :grr:

[Sean Reynolds]

11. It's sad...sure.

But will you be pissed when Clinton dies and there is wall to wall coverage? Hate to tell ya', but it's not just an American media thing. Go watch the news channels in every other nation and you're going to see nothing BUT stories about the Pope.

It's life. When the leader of one BILLION people dies, it's big news. Yes it's too bad the media can't cut away from the Pope coverage long enough to talk about other events, but that's just how it is.

If there was 24 hour news media back when Kennedy was shot you'd have nothing BUT this kind of coverage; same when Roosevelt died. And if Clinton, Bush Senior, Carter or Ford die you're going to have major coverage as well.

I suggest that you just turn the TV off, stop crying and find the story somewhere online.

[demokatgurrl]

14. I will be HEARTBROKEN when Clinton dies, and most likely

will not be able to tolerate watching news coverage.
Any of them other pas president MOFOs besides Carter dies-
I'll probably just yawn and turn on ESPN.

[Sheila Samples]

15. You Betcha...

...because the only two clips CNN and Fox have are:

(1) Bill and Monica hugging in the handshake line, and

(2) Bill wagging his finger, saying, "I did not have sex with that woman, Ms Lewinski..."

LOL

[FULL_METAL_HAT]

16. if Clinton, Bush Senior, Carter or Ford die ...

Given the baseline of about 10 days of non-stop coverage of the Reagan dealth, as well as the current state of control of the union, here's my predictions.

Ford: 6 days

Carter: 3-4 days

Bush: 8-12 days

Clinton: 5-6 days

[Sean Reynolds]

19. LOL.

God I wish I were a betting man because I'd bet you Clinton's death would pull more coverage over any of those three.

[FULL_METAL_HAT]

21. I'd agree but I'm being realalistic!!

Given the levels of control and out and out psychological conditioning they'd love to achieve (a la MAN DATE MAN DATE during the "we didn't steal 12 million votes nothing to see here" period!), an immense suppression of the mass psychology would be irresitable.

Suffice it to say, the natural out-pouring of grief the death of a really beloved (not befeared) president would be a very tempting target to the cognitive dissonators who have been working so hard to make ** supporters (I won't even call the suckers "republicans" anymore) feel good despite reality, and to make democrats, liberals, progressives, and every demographic not stupid enough to vote against their own self interest feel like they are an absolute minority, without real values, and not-long-for-this-world.

[googly]

25. Ford=2 days, Carter=3 days, Clinton=6 days, Bush41=3 days

will more like it.

[FULL_METAL_HAT]

29. Well I'm talking about during the next 4 years reign...

and a typically nastiest-case-scenario... well not most nastiest ... that'd see some serious reality-shifting to take the USA out of the plane of the elliptic of world thought -- kinda to where china was 50 years ago say ... doubtful but I'm sure sometimes the power sleepers might have the dancing sugarplum dreams like that.

I'll buy your ordering though. Its got that nice measured pace ... especially if big dog gets short shrift ... maybe all his "play nice" lately has been to ensure he doesn't get f**ked in the beehind of history by some kind of scandalous very-public death! It's the only thing that really sway him; the threat of looking bad instead of looking good. You ever wonder why he made sure his library was up and open so quickly? You never know when some revisionism might knock out the truth...

[googly]

26. and here is my guess on who dies first............

1. Ford
2. Clinton
3. Carter
4. Bush 41

[MurrayDelph]

12. I hav en't turned on the TV all day:

is he still dead?

[shihtzu5]

18. Coffee all over my desk....

thanks MurrayDelph. Yep, he is still dead, and will remain dead on our TV screens for a week or longer.

[TR Fan]

20. Perhaps English is not your native language

However, there is a difference between the word "deaths" and "casualities." And, yes, the death of the spiritual leader of over 1B people is a more significant incident than a battle in an ongoing conflict in the Middle East. If you're bored with this and perhaps think that the media should be covering issues of international importance like the Plame affair or the Teddy's lastest binge, there is the ignore button.

[REP]

27. What's So "Significant" About a Corpse Lying In A Room?

The last of the popapalooza I could stomach was his corpse on display. Unless it starts talking, that is neither significant nor newsworthy. A battle in a war in which this country is engaged is of more importance as news than a dead man in a dress on display.

[alarimer]

23. me too

In order to avoid the major networks I watched "Mister Smith Goes to Washington". What a great movie. Too bad we don't have any Jeff Smiths these days, although I think some of our Dems come closer than any Republican that's for sure.

[googly]

24. Yeah me too.....must have been a low news day/week................n/t