Weird thing just happened on 6abc here in Philly:

[PCIntern]

At about 6:20 PM, the news anchor, Rob Jennings, who has been the weekend anchor here for at least 20 years, said that there was breaking news: that multiple folks have called into the station to say that the casino at Caesar's in Atlantic City's slots are unable to print winning vouchers and so they have to be written by hand.

Now that's not the weird part: what was strange was that the anchor was distinctly uncomfortable in the reporting of this story. I've watched this guy for what seems like decades and never saw him react like that. Maybe he thought the story was too trivial for a 'breaking news' segment, or maybe he enjoys Caesar's and is angry that they're screwing up...or whatever.

So why do I post this? Because weirder things than that occur and the one thing I'll say about the newsreaders at CNN, MSNBC, and I guess, FOX, is that they only react to trivial nonsense with unease: that when really horrible stuff happens of a significant nature, like the death of soldiers en masse, or civilians en masse, or lying about why we went to war, the anchors are very stiff. But if someone like Contessa or Tony the Idiot over on CNN hears about some runaway-bride type story, they get all hot and bothered. Here in Philly, we were setting records last year with street violence and murders, and they were reported dutifully and relatively emotionlessly (if there is such a word - 'phlegmatically' is better I guess) but when an opposing pitcher throws at a Phillie batter, or some other trivial nonsense, they all get outraged. This country had best better get its act together soon.