A Pilgrim’s Digression

I am addicted to the news. However, the news these days alternates so wildly between triumphalism and defeat, I wonder how long we will be able to ride the emotional rollercoaster. I think the real reason our modern wars must be short is to keep the public from burning out too quickly. I often feel like Winston Smith at the end of 1984, after he has been tortured and broken. Smith sits in a café drinking rancid gin and worrying about recent military setbacks for Oceania. The ever-on telescreen has been forecasting disaster for the Oceanic forces in Africa for several days. Then suddenly trumpets blare! Victory! Oh glorious victory! Oceania is triumphant after all. Tears stream down Smith’s cheeks.

I read the on-line versions of the Washington Post and New York Times. I like Internet news because I can choose the stories I read. When watching TV, one has to suffer through whatever boring material the networks decide to serve up to fill space in between major developments. I go home at night and watch the news until I find myself nodding off well past dark. Last night I alternated between CNN and MSNBC. I also flipped over to the Newshour on PBS. I was shocked and awed to discover that Jim Lehrer was covering the defeat of Bush’s tax cut plan, rather than the war. After about two seconds of the economy, I turned back to CNN and the elaborate battlefield map on the newsroom floor, on which a retired general stood, explaining troop movements and forecasting the battles for the next few days. Old soldiers never die; they just find themselves a six figure job as a commentator for CNN.