The News Cycle

I spent yesterday recovering from the combination birthday/dissertation celebration a friend had here in Baton Rouge. Rather than try to keep up with the happenings, I did a little cleaning up, then got to sleep early.

It almost feels like I have to play catch-up now, and it make me wonder how people who don't follow the news on a more or less daily basis consider things. Something tells me that Bush is relying on these folks to form his core support--for instance, I caught this quote over at Democratic Veteran--apparently Bob Woodward asked Bush about his legacy and got this reply:

"History. We don't know. We'll all be dead." (Democratic Veteran cites Roger Ailes for the tip)

The New York Times reports that Spain is on the fast track for withdrawing troops from Iraq, while Robert Fisk expresses his admiration for the Spanish in recognizing the folly of the "mission," as it were. Ariel Sharon is tottering on the brink of insanity in killing Dr. Abdel Aziz Rantisi, leader of Hamas, while at least eleven soldiers were killed in various areas in Iraq. More information is forthcoming in regards to just what was known about bin Laden's intents prior to 9/11, while MSNBC carefully summarizes, as best as can be determined, the casualty report from the Iraq war.

David Lindorff calculates how many of our tax dollars are paying for the conflict in Iraq (average $2,150 per family and counting). This should dispell any notion that Bush is a fiscal conservative. Bush is also doing an about face in regards to combat pay and bonuses, offering an extra $1,000 a month to each soldier called back into the conflict, while bin Laden, if he was in a position to hear the news, would be wetting himself with glee over this story from Kosovo: US and Jordanian MP's ended up in a firefight (2 Americans and 1 Jordanian killed, 11 injured) sparked by arguments about Iraq.

And this was just a weekend. It seems almost impossible to keep up with what's happening in the real world, even as most folks these days seem to be far more interested in The Apprentice or Survivor or NASCAR or whatever. Even taking a day of rest, with no television (still haven't cut it on--not that there's anything to watch), and I feel hopelessly behind. Those who don't take an interest in public affairs must feel completely out of the loop.

A democratic government--and a democratic process--REQUIRES an informed citizenry. Without the public providing a check on the virtually limitless power possessed by the government, the country is in danger of becoming little more than a National Security State. If/when that happens, there will be little chance of returning to any semblence of democratic rule.

That's why the upcoming election is so damned important.