Entirely too many people just accept what the media are showing them, without stopping for a second to think for themselves.

Cameras flash. The reporters thrust their microphones closer to Mike Huckabee in hopes of getting the all-important sound bite. What will he say? Will he describe his healthcare plan, or maybe his agenda regarding the Constitution? Suddenly, someone steps through the ironclad media barrier. The man brandishes a squirt bottle and scissors. With a bewildered look, he wets and begins to trim Mike Huckabee’s hair. The frenzied reporters and camerapeople froth at the mouth. They press closer, shouting questions. Reporters yell at their photographers, “Are you getting this?” The media just can’t get enough of Mike Huckabee’s haircut.

When not reporting on Huckabee’s split-end trimming, our national media enjoys pitting one candidate against the other in a gossipy, overly dramatic way. Think late ‘90’s MTV: Celebrity Death Match commentary (alas, without the claymation) combined with Real World drama (add older men, take away—for the most part—the casual sex). The eagerness to stereotype each candidate in the media and to force them to lock horns distracts from the real issues. There’s the woman, the black guy, the Mormon, the Italian, the really religious one, that one guy who ran as vice president last time, and the old, middle-of-the-road guy. Chances are, you can identify every single one of them, and may even know that the Mormon, the Italian, and the would-be vice president are all out of the race by now. Rolling Stone reporter Matt Taibbi, in the Jan. 24 issue, calls it the Revenge of the Nerds effect, saying “Give an army of proud professionals nothing but a silly horse race to cover, and inevitably they’ll elevate even the most meaningless details of that horse race to cosmic importance.”

Mitt Romney got into the act as well, even as he was exiting the race on Feb. 7. He managed to stir up the proverbial pot by saying “Because I love America, in this time of war, I feel I have to stand aside for our party and our country…I’d forestall the launch of a national campaign and, frankly, I’d make it easier for Sen. Clinton or Obama to win. (www.nytimes.com)” The reporters seized on the remark like dogs would seize a rabbit. When Mike Huckabee was reached for comment, he was on his way to his all-important appearance on the Tyra Banks Show.

Really? Tyra? What, not even any of the pseudo-political pundits would take him?

Entirely too many people just accept what the media are showing them, without stopping for a second to think for themselves. Whether people get news from Stewart and Colbert or from Limbaugh and O’Reilly, these people shouldn’t be the only sources, and what they say shouldn’t be accepted without question, especially during an important election when people depend upon the media to teach them about candidates. For the record, there’s nothing newsworthy about catfights or haircuts, and the sooner everyone realizes they are being patronized, the sooner they can start making more informed decisions.