Reply #2: And the rest of the blame?

[mcscajun]

Bernstein, 63, said he believes an "idiot culture" is partly to blame for the dysfunction of political life in the United States.

"You can't separate the appetites and demands of the people themselves and what they are given," he said. "The blame simply can't all be put at the feet of those who present news."

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It's like illicit drug traffic; there wouldn't be a dealer without a buyer. We see examples of this every day, when the people around us (co-workers, or people you see/hear on the bus/train on the way to work) have last night's "American Idol", "Dancing with the Stars" or who's on the cover of People Magazine uppermost in their minds as urgent morning workplace conversation, rather than anything that's breaking news (unless of course, there's a kid down a well or a blonde missing somewhere) or worrying environmental stories. Now, politics and the environment will have far more direct impact on their lives than anything they might see on TV or read in PEOPLE, but hey! that's how the game is rigged: bread and circuses, baby, bread and circuses.

:banghead: