The Money Train

How can MS-NBC call an election primary before the popular vote has even begun to come in? I am confused again about the electoral process. The “superdelegates” are watching the people, the special interests, and each other. Special interest groups are watching the candidates and the people. Media are watching all of these. Finally it came to me in a flash last night. The presidential primary coverage is like a gambling show. They are not hypothetically monitoring a democratic process as it unfolds. They have their fingers in a big media gambling debt like any people playing poker on a television show. Is this the right concept for news coverage of such an important event? It seems big money has become the root of life in the United States. Everything meant to be digested by the American people erroneously has been stripped of all creativity, soul, and hope instead replaced by the stark reality of death and taxes. Legalizing the Lottery has not helped. When lawmakers decide that gambling is a better antecedent to the American Dream than good education, religion, and dependable leaders we are in trouble. Once again the short-sightedness of media has plagued our country. In the l950’s in America television was a reflection of real life. There were enough factories and jobs for life to exist. People had to deal with real life issues, not fiction on television. That has changed dramatically, and that life as we knew it has become dormant. I won’t say extinct, because we can all hope for better things. Better would be the quick fix of the internet, television, and fast food would become dormant taking a back seat to quality infrastructure. Good jobs, reliable leaders, and a sustained interest in the humanities. Television coverage of the presidential primary races represents the former. They are soulless tables of probability mediated like a sporting event. Whence should the model come for media coverage with integrity? One has to look no further than the semi-formal setting of a religious ceremony. They have wine. They have bread. They have fellowship. They have morality. They have quality leadership. Why has this tradition gone out of vogue taking a backseat to the psychotic rants of religious extremists? How as a country could we allow this to happen, a major faction of the country seeming to discount God’s presence, the foundation upon which this country was built? We may not all agree with the puritan religious roots of our country, but we must agree making your own cheese harmlessly in a community with no phones or automobiles is not evil. Screaming agnosticism and atheism while pressuring our academic system to change centuries of historic fact is. Ben Stein is saying it. As a country we must all agree the pursuit of monetary wealth and power are themselves depressing. Can that single dollar bill replace the heart and soul of a comic book superhero? Can that quarter replace a carnival trinket memorializing a child’s enjoyment of a county fair? Can that stack of hundred dollar bills replace the entertainment and wisdom of a well-written novel? Can that quick million dollars replace centuries of hand-written and copied music personifying centuries of enlightenment? Can a sack of gold replace a sack of fresh vegetables grown on one’s own land in the piedmont of the North Carolina? Can stock portfolios replace a hand-made wood vanity made in Colonial America. While there are things we need to live, money is not always the most prized, and it is this lessen the GOP and big business should learn. When the end of the world comes, a bank account full of worthless paper will mean nothing. Better to consult the creator and be creative while we can. Live today for today and forget about that damn dollar. Maybe the anchors on MS-NBC will stop talking about the money train for Hillary.