The Linear Canvas

I went to the restroom at a Chili’s restaurant in Toledo, Ohio last Friday. Like a lot of restaurants, they had copies of that days USA Today above the urinals. One urinal had the front page, the other had the sports section. I chose the front page. I read some of the headlines and was disturbed at the change in political direction USA Today has taken over the years.

I began reading USA Today right after the publication began. I barely missed an issue up until about six months ago. I was even published in the letters to the editor column twice. I felt a bit lost without it when I couldn’t find a copy. Now I won’t buy it at all. I finally had had enough of USA Today’s desire to make government responsible only to right wing conservatives and reactionaries. I thought about the hundreds of copies of USA Today that I had bought and read over the years.

Here are some of the ways USA Today has wasted my time and some of the things that somehow it has missed during the last few years that caused me to stop buying it. 

1. Not all Democrats are liberals (missed).
2. Our President having or not having sex (wasted my time).
3. “Our” government spending one-hundred million dollars to “investigate” our President losing one-hundred thousand dollars on a bad investment plus anything else they could think of (missed and wasted my time).
4. Right wing conservatives and reactionaries ruining the lives of people whose only real crime was an affiliation with the President (missed).
5. The majority of those polled, felt impeachment of the President was unjustified (missed).
6. “Accusers” of the President being showered with “donations” to pay for nose and boob jobs (missed).
7. One-hundred thousand people dying per year in the care of hospitals and physicians because of questionable practices and procedures. (missed).
8. Calls from physicians and hospitals to cap jury awards in negligence cases so they can lower insurance premiums (wasted my time).
9. Our current administrations involvement with the Enron scandal and other questionable decision making (missed).

I know some of these things that I believe were missed, were reported, but never with any conviction.  

Newspapers and television news in America should help to protect individual liberties and protect democracy in our country. Before there were any national news services, local publications could give balance to opinions of other local and national sources. Now with the single beat of a publication and networks like USA Today, CNN, and Fox News, where less hateful content and opinion is not “hot” and profitable enough for front pages and newscasts, any reasonable expectation of fairness cannot be expected. I know it’s a business, but my opinion counts as much as any one else’s, even if my opinion is not as loud. My needs are not being served by this type of news reporting. 

If the Democrats are ever allowed back into places of power in our country again, the Republicans will then have to worry about the fascists rules and laws that have been passed since the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. Those that protect the secrets of Republicans will also protect the secrets of Democrats. Democratic and Republican politicians are to gain equally from our deteriorating ability to question the actions of our elected officials and the use of our tax dollars. (missed) 

Next time I’ll read the sports section.