How a Media Holiday Turns a Tiger into a Fat Cat

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When news broke of legendary professional golfer Tiger Woods’ cheating on his wife, the news media was all over it like a rat on cheese.

Who could blame them? There was not much else going on in the world to report – or at least nothing newsworthy.

Every year, from around the middle of December to the middle of January the following year, the media takes a holiday, or so it seems. Political bodies boldly declare “enough is enough” and close up shop. Canada’s Parliament is already on holiday, meaning if you want to get hold of your local Member of Parliament (MP) you’ll have to wait until the New Year.

Many provincial and local politicians are also on vacation, only reachable in the most extreme of emergencies.

Big business is taking a holiday break too; as people from the highest positions, to even us lay people, take some much needed rest from a busy year.

All of these vacations means there just isn’t much going on around us, so aside from covering that crazy neighbor down the street that put up a life-size replica of Mary and the Baby Jesus, there really isn’t much for the news media to cover.

So when a celebrity scandal like the numerous sexual conquests of the married with kids Tiger Woods hits, the media goes crazy. Granted they would have gone crazy no matter when the story on Tiger Woods broke, but to still be leading the six o’clock news pack is due to the lack of other headline grabbing news. There really isn’t anything that far reaching in the story to justify it continuing to be the top story. We know Tiger Woods had affairs with many women, across the globe, now move onto something else.

Many famous celebrities have got caught with their pants down in sex scandals – the most notable being former U.S. President Bill Clinton, who not only got caught in the act, he almost got himself impeached for lying to Congress about his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky back in the 1990’s.

President Clinton’s affair got much more coverage – so far – than Woods – however both got far more coverage than necessary.

Many people have affairs, the only reason we hear so much about celebrities is because they are in the so-called “lime light,” and constantly under the media microscope.

The only difference between Tiger Woods, President Clinton or any of the other celebrities that got caught in sex scandals from you and me, is their fame and fortune.

Though it is times like these, where being rich and famous isn’t a good thing, as the more money and fame a person has, the more it will cost them to get out of their sexual mess.

If the news media weren’t so intently focused on the actual tabloid-trashy gossip of the scandal itself, maybe they would actually delve deeper and explore the socio-economic, anthropological or even the psychological conditions which form the basis for why these things happen, and teach us something about ourselves and our society.

There are many theories about why people involved in monogamous, long-term relationships have affairs. From genetics which say we are pre-programmed to spread our DNA to as many different partners as possible to continue our species; to socio-economic theories which show us throughout human history that the more money a person has, the more power a person has to explore multiple sexual relationships, to psychological theories which say things about how when a person cheats on a spouse, it is a sign of deeper problems needing resolution within the long-term relationship.

But instead of providing news which might actually better society, the focus of these celebrity sex scandals is the celebrity, and not the deeper meaning for us all.

Maybe the news media has taken a holiday, like many others this time of year?
Or more likely, the news media is a business and uses flashy tabloid-trashy stories to lure in readers, listeners and watchers, which in turn increase their ability to sell advertising, which pays the fat cats that own the newspapers, television and radio stations.

So it’s the fat cats behind the business of news gathering, keeping you ill informed, so they can make a fast buck.

Happy reading, watching and listening!

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A Visit to the White House – What a Nice Distraction

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper took a joy ride south of the border last Wed. – or at least that’s probably how it seemed to him.

He met with American President Barack Obama for an hour-long meeting in the White House’s Oval Office. The two leaders discussed the economy, just ahead of the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh starting today and running through the weekend.

They also discussed each country’s roles in the mission to Afghanistan. Canada has had soldiers in the battle-whipped country for over eight-years, but there are plans to pull all Canadian Forces troops out in 2010.

President Obama on the other hand is pushing for more American soldiers to be sent to Afghanistan this year and next year.

Canadian Soldiers should never have gone to Afghanistan in the first place – and will most likely end up in another place they should never be sent – Iraq in 2010 or 2011.

Afghanistan and Iraq are strictly American conflicts, begun by then-American President George W. Bush. Bush, the sly scoundrel he is, used the intense emotions stirred in his citizens by the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001 to launch attacks on these two relatively innocent countries.

President Bush originally launched air strikes in Afghanistan in what he called his “shock and awe” military attack, to get Bin Ladden and those responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on American soil.

Almost a decade later, Bin Ladden (who boldly boasts of his success in his involvement of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, but no one anywhere has actually provided proof of his involvement) is still running free, occasionally popping up to in grainy videos to taunt the Americans.

As the hunt for Bin Ladden dragged on, the American political machine needed a new scapegoat to distract the public’s attention from their failing mission in Afghanistan (the goal was to get Bin Ladden).

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That’s when President Bush and the rest of the executive branch of the White House launched their smear campaign against Saddam Hussein and Iraq.

They claimed Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, and urged the United Nations (UN) to take actions against Iraq. Despite all the doctored images – which looked real at the time but have since been proved tampered with – the UN didn’t budge and would not support an outright attack against Iraq.

The UN did begin sanctions against Iraq, and sent over their own inspectors, to look for these weapons of mass destruction.

None were ever found, and the UN was satisfied Iraq and its leader were in the clear.

But trigger-happy American President Bush still launched an attack against Saddam Hussein, and in the process destroyed all the infrastructure of the tiny Middle Eastern country in the process.

Canadian soldiers are dying in great numbers in Afghanistan, as American soldiers are dying also in great numbers in Iraq.

But both these missions were unnecessary, and mismanaged from the get-go. American President Bush didn’t really care about bring those responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks to justice, he just used that event to go after the countries in the Middle East with the richest oil reserves, to secure oil for his country, and his former colleagues in the oil industry from where he originally came.

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Now America’s current leader, President Obama has to deal with the massive cost, lost lives, and lack of any signs of real victory in two wars. He’s also struggling with his push to launch universal, government-funded healthcare across all 50 States, similar to our Canadian healthcare system.

Here on his home turf, the Canada’s top politician is being made to jump over massive hurdles, just to do his job. Some of the heat is due in part because he’s only got a minority government, the other part is due to the childish antics of the opposition parties.

Prime Minister Harper is always facing threats of election calls for his head, by the Bloc, the Liberals, the New Democratic Party, or a combination of them. Currently, the Liberal Party is threatening to call a non-confidence vote to end the Prime Minister’s rule, and lead Canadians into yet another federal election – has it even been a year since the last election?

With the intense pressures both the current American and Canadian leaders are facing, their meeting must have been a nice distraction from the horrors of their worlds. Let’s just hope that distraction was short lived, and they can both get back to the business of running their respective countries.

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No More Rock Star Status Obama?

When American President Barack Obama was announced winner of the last federal American election, he instantly was propelled into rock star-like status. Everywhere he went, he was greeted with throngs of adoring fans, chanting, singing, dancing, there were even people hawking Obama t-shirts, ball caps, and other merchandise with the American leader’s face and catch-phrases.

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Maybe the love affair with America’s first black president is over.

Usually, everything Obama touches turns to gold, he can do no wrong - whatever policy he put forward, we the people were behind him 110 percent.

Not so over his latest big proposal - healthcare reform in America.

Here in Canada, we’ve enjoyed the benefits of having free, universal healthcare to all for decades. Thanks to the Tommy Douglas, the first leader of the New Democratic Party, we Canadians never have to worry about basic healthcare costs. Douglas, known as the father of healthcare, put through similar policies to those U.S. President Obama is now trying to do now.

Douglas had to fight to bring us the universal healthcare we have in Canada, just as President Obama did. But that’s where things turn - Douglas never had a rock star-like status.

That’s why the tides may be turning for American politics - as Americans get used to having President Obama in the White House, growing comfortable

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with his speaking style, his image, his slogans, and his way of running the Oval Office.

And that comfort may be costing the American leader some of his clout, because, for the first time, he’s being seriously questioned and opposed on his healthcare reform policies.

Prior to President Obama’s healthcare reform, even those who don’t wear the same color political stripes dared not oppose the Obama Many sweeping the nation.

Not so anymore, or at least not so over President Obama’s healthcare reforms, which are an attempt to ensure every American has access to free, universal, healthcare, as we have here in Canada.

Many look to Canada’s high taxes, and fears that they will encounter the few and far between horror stories, of Canadians having to come to the States, paying big bucks out of their own pockets, to get life saving treatments that just aren’t provided, or provided in time, up here in Canada.

Little do Americans realize that those horror stories are rare, as are the diseases and ailments which they are about.

For the average Canadian, the Medicare system works. We don’t worry about breaking a bone, and having to pay an ambulance attendant cash up front to rush us to the hospital - as we’re rumoured to hear occasionally happen in the States. We don’t have film makers like Michael Moore making documentaries about big American companies, intentionally preventing people from getting the medical attention they need, because it costs too much. We don’t hear about millions of people dying from preventable illness, because they weren’t insured.

Canada’s healthcare system isn’t the best, but it does work.

It would work in the States too, that is if it isn’t used as a political positioning tool to lower President Obama’s clout. Or maybe President Obama has suffered what many put up high on a pedestal suffer - when we realize they are just normal human beings like us, they suddenly fall out of grace, and we don’t value them as highly.

Either way, it looks like President Obama has lost that rock star-like status - which is okay. Now maybe he can get on with being president, instead of having to always act like a celebrity.

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Techno Politicians – A New Breed of Public Servant

Many eons ago, when I was a print reporter, the only way for politicians and other news makers to get their messages out was through their speeches, media events, and staff. It was a love-hate relationship between us reporter-types, and the spin doctors – I mean press secretaries – working alongside the politician.

Everything that comes out of a politician’s mouth is usually scripted. That script has probably been read, and re-read countless times by their staff, to ensure there aren’t any mistakes in the message being delivered.

When you see a politician on television, answering questions live, all their answers are scripted too. They have been briefed by their handlers how to respond to just about every question you or that television reporter could imagine. It is rare these days to catch ‘em off guard.

What has changed is how direct and informal the messages are becoming, thanks to instant micro blogging sites like Twitter.

Twitter is a cool web-based micro blogging site, which allows peop

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le to share very brief one-liner-type statements about anything and everything that pops into their heads. You can even follow this blog on Twitter, by adding @jordansdaily to your own www.Twitter.com feed.

American President Barack Obama uses Twitter, so too does his rival John McCain. The White House has its own Twitter account, which posts pictures and video they capture as they follow the President. Even the Brits are in on the instant online action, you can follow British Prime Minister Gordon Brown by adding @DowningStreet to your Twitter page.

Whether President Obama actually taps out his own “tweets” to send via Twitter on his Blackberry is doubtful. Those messages, as with everything else that comes out of his – and all other politician’s

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offices – is carefully crafted and vetted by the best wordsmiths in the world.

But what is fascinating about this new method of communications is its directness.

Love or hate the news media, one thing journalists do is analyze, discuss and debate the issues. When a politician or other news maker says something, there is usually some sort of discussion, or alternative opinion brought in, to add context to the story, and provide some balance. You may not always agree with those alternative views, but at least they are there for you to think about.

However, when you receive a message in your Twitter feed – or any other live micro blogging site – from a politician or news maker, you are only receiving the information they want you to have. There isn’t anything to counter balance their information with other facts and arguments – all you’re getting is their one-sided version of the story.

It will be interesting over the next few years to see how this new form of instant, direct and non-objective messaging affects world democracies.

Instead of getting all sides of the story from the media, those on the information superhighway may just get the information which they have subscribed too, not even considering the bias, slant or angle that information is taking. Elections of the future may be won or lost by just how well politicians communicate their messages directly to the people, circumventing any potential analysis or debate for those people.

And that could prove dangerous for democracy, as the discussions and debates about not just the people running our world, but the very laws, programs and policies that make our world, could vanish.

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