Is An Impeachment Resolution Newsworthy?

I had work to do today but had Fox TV on all day, as promised. I listened to at least two hours of news. During that time, I heard multiple repeats of Breaking News: a manhunt for an escaped convict in Florida, the landing of the Space Shuttle, and again, the Heather Mills' diatribe against her ex-husband and Beatle, Paul McCartney - oh, and Pat Robertson's endorsement of Giuliani for President.

As my post mentioned yesterday, the fact that Dennis Kucinich made a first step toward seeking to impeach a sitting Vice-President was not mentioned as it was happening on C-Span yesterday. Nor was it addressed today, during the two hours that I listened to the Fox Cable News Channel. I was intrigued that the only time that the resolution was announced, apparently, was when the Republicans strategized [very deftly] not to table the resolution, but to vote on it instead with the goal of putting Democrats on the hot seat to debate the resolution. Apparently, the Fox media did speak to Representative Conyers, chair of the Judiciary Committee, who would be reviewing the motion, and who voiced his initial thoughts that it was not a good idea. How is it that the resolution wasn't newsworthy but "what happened" to the resolution was newsworthy?

Again, whether it was a ploy by Kucinich to bring attention to his campaign or not, his maneuver on the floor as a member of the House was historical and groundbreaking - but the television news media didn't address it until hours later. What was the delay? Cop chases are instantaneous and even the term, "Breaking News" has actually lost its significance, they interrupt broadcasts so much. I'm sure C-Span doesn't have a monopoly on airing Congressional sessions.

The parliamentary debate was intriguing, as it appeared that the Acting House Speaker or President, as he/she is named --was a mustachioed gentleman with a hearing problem when it comes to registering voice votes from his podium (somebody check the acoustics of that room) -- didn't know what to do. The vote was on the floor of the House. In my opinion, this was as important as the quandary that the country was in after the elections in 2000: procedural and parliamentary mayhem. I mean, how many impeachments have been brought against the highest office-holders of the Executive Branch? Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton. And how was it that the very Democratic party to which Dennis Kucinich belongs was voting against him and the Republicans for the motion?

Not newsworthy. Nyet. Niente. Nada. No mention today while I was tuned in, and barely any yesterday. Today's Wall Street journal's first page had short paragraphs on what we could find inside--there was mention of the Mukasey nomination for Attorney General; House and Senate negotiations on weapons systems; and the House override of President Bush's veto of a water bill. I was skimming, but nothing jumped out at me. Impeachment. No big deal. Allegations of lies that have killed thousands of American citizens and hundreds of thousands of Iraqi citizens. Human beings now dead because of the alleged mastermind machinations of a demonic Vice-President? Whether real or not, despite the vilification -- once a matter goes to the House, it should be considered a serious matter. If the impeachment issues came up on the talk shows, which is probable, because then its "opinion news," I didn't see it. But it could have aired and will stand corrected if they did air it, tucked away during a time period when no one would be watching.

I grew up when TASS (the central news agency of the Soviet Union when it was the USSR ) was government-controlled and the acronym was synonymous with government propaganda. Are we there now? Or is it as Spiro Agnew named it, the "the unelected elite" have deigned to dictate what the American public should and should not know? Marital breakups, yes; but deception of the American people - no. Far be it from me to have anything in common with Richard M. Nixon, but was his estimation of the television media, "the Silent Majority," prescient, and something about which we need to be more vigilant?

But my question would still remain -- where is the media when you need them? Sitting in their trailers, getting their make-up reapplied? Or asleep at the switch? Or intentionally absent because they were told to be otherwise occupied, under order by the powers that be to say nothing?

ShutUpMedia? Hmmm. This is one time when I wish they hadn't. I may have to think of a new Blog Name...

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