Side Effects

With the mind-numbed robots all following Rush Limbaugh, and the Trumped-up conservatives staying loyal to the President, who do we turn to now for real news? Who can we trust to tell us the truth? Anyone? Putin perhaps? The BBC? The Pope?

I thought, Fox TV News. But now we've learned they had to pay out millions for the antics of Roger Ailes and then more for their exiled leader of the No Spin Zone. With charges of racism on top of sexism, they are compromised. Who is left? Sadly, even Bill Cosby is not to be trusted.

Maybe Talk Radio? There are plenty of hosts who have kept themselves pure. I've not heard anything bad about Hannity. Have you? Maybe he'll stay true. Or perhaps Newt Gingrich? He sure is smart. All of his divorces are surely behind him. He's too old to flirt, isn't he? Hey, even Reagan was divorced! That didn't stop him from being a great President.

Maybe the sad truth is that no one is perfect, not even NPR or CNN. Not even me. (Gasp! Don't tell anyone.) Now Facebook is policing its site for fake news. The chaotic streams of conflicting information is creating strange side effects. Data is prolific but credibility diminishes. What an odd side effect. More is not better.

I've noticed that one of my favorite TV shows, Blue Bloods, is now bracketed and framed by similar drug commercials. They all target the older audience, my demographic.

For all our ailments there is a cure. I think I'm in the Twilight Zone of pharmaceutical relief. Every few minutes there is a new cure, a new pill to ask our doctor to prescribe for us - for psoriasis, ED, cancer, dropping jowls, weight loss, hair loss, diabetes, snoring, and reverse mortgages to pay for our medical bills.

After the benefits are touted, they list all the drawbacks: depression, insomnia, premature death, blotchy skin, drooling, uncontrollable flatulence, bad breath, voting Republican, itching scalp, bleeding gums, incredibly huge hemorrhoids. For all that you get to live for five more weeks. Enjoy!

Surely we in America who have suffered through the last hysterical election and bi-polar meltdown of schizophrenic partisanship deserve something a little bit better. Maybe a prairie cabin in the Gulag of Russia would provide me some relief. They probably don't have internet or TV news there. Ahh, peace at last!

Where is Paul Harvey when you need him? Or at least, Captain Kangaroo? They never lied to us. I miss the days of Huntley and Brinkley, don't you?

-- Ron Wood is a writer and minister. Contact him at [email protected] or visit www.touchedbygrace.org. The opinions expressed are those of the author.