The Press Opera

When I was in college, I knew some of the people who worked on the campus newspaper. They operated with deadlines, of course, and even back in those days of innocence I noticed that if the news pickings were a tad sparse, they were not above making a mountain out of a mole hill. They wouldn't create something out of nothing but next to nothing was often sufficient for several stories. After all, they had ethics.

Those memories return when I see some of the stories that have "all Washington talking." Most of them are pretty thin. If you take a two week vacation in the wilderness, you can depart with the assurance that, in true soap opera fashion, little will have changed when you return: Troy and Francesca will still be feuding, Oscar will still be awaiting an accurate medical diagnosis, and Estelle's indecision over whether to run off with her plastic surgeon or join the Peace Corps will be never-ending.

Just put that in its political terms and you'll have a modern newscast..