Over the course of my three years at Ball State University, I have increasingly moved from the far left to the libertarian wing of politics. I have a weakening faith in the Democratic Party and zero faith in the Republican Party.
I have come to the realization that like so many others, it is the influx of punditry and opinionated "news" shows that have opened my eyes to the horrors of cable news.
There are no two better examples of this horror than two of the most popular loudmouth pundits on cable: Ann Coulter and Jon Stewart.
Before you start about them both being accomplished authors, they have morphed from pseudo-celebrity into full blown political stars.
To me and a large portion of the population, Ann Coulter represents the evils of allowing unqualified people talk about news items on television. She attempts to pass her blatant lies, fabrications, and opinions as both the all-encompassing truth and the word of God. In fact, she has even called 49% (and growing) of the U.S. population "Godless."
Sorry to say this Ann, you have no right to judge people's faiths and practices when you haven't even met 99.9% of the people who voted for John Kerry in the last election.
The only thing she has done worse than call that much of the population "Godless" is state, on a Fox News program, that Osama bin Laden was "irrelevant" in the current war on terrorism.
That statement should give her followers a clue that she does not truly care about the reasons for the thousands of sacrifices of men and women for the security of this nation. The war on terrorism started with an act by Osama bin Laden, and now she has simply alluded to her opinion that those deaths on Sept. 11 are no longer important reasons to wage this costly war.
While Coulter's start as a national political pundit was innocent, since most people found her either annoying or extremist reactionary, she has become very dangerous in the sense that people actually take her opinions as cold hard facts, when in fact they are no more true than the blatant lies produced by the Bush administration everyday.
In the interest of being "fair and balanced," liberals are not safe from the evils of punditry either.
Jon Stewart, once the funniest man on television, is no longer the satirist he once was. "The Daily Show," at its best, was a show that simply made fun of the news and clued in a younger audience to the hypocrisy of American journalism and politics. However, Stewart has allowed politics to interfere with the process of comedy. Stewart's interviews were once fun and delightful to watch because he made fun of the world we live in.
Lately I, and many others, have lost the ability to laugh during the show.
The fall of Stewart and "The Daily Show" occurred in a one-two punch. First, on September 15, 2003, former Sen. John Edwards announced his candidacy for president on the show. Then during the height of the 2004 presidential election campaign, Sen. John Kerry was interviewed on the program.
"The Daily Show" was meant to make fun of people like Kerry and Edwards, not to give them a stump to speak on.
Like Coulter, Stewart has allowed egotism and his ability to drive a message to get in the way of what he should be doing-making us laugh.
Coulter became famous for her (utterly) ridiculous statements. Stewart became famous for making fun of pundits like Coulter. Now Stewart is the pundit and Coulter is despicable. With this cycle, hopefully my path will not lead me towards idiotic, annoying punditry.
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
