I Saw It On TV

 "I know it's true, oh, so true 'cause I saw it on TV." - John Fogerty

Before Billy Joel denied starting the fire, Mister Fogerty wrote a song about the decades of news and pop culture that he witnessed via what was colloquially known as "The Idiot Box." In the first verse, he confesses, "Though I saw them all, I can't recall which cartoon were real."

You may recall that recently the convicted felon currently ignoring the US Constitution lauded his acting head of the Federal Emergency Management Administration for her efforts to reduce the suffering of those affected by the floods in Texas because he "saw her on TV." Not that she was actively pursuing any sort of rescue or reclamation efforts, but because she appeared in her best "take charge" costume and gave the impression that she was, in fact, in charge. Couple this with the rumor that swirled around a few months ago about a reality TV show being in development centering on the efforts of immigrants attempting to achieve citizenship. Given the reality that we have all witnessed on our screens, television and otherwise, it was determined that now might not be the best time to unleash this kind of "non-scripted" entertainment. 

It is certainly true that the line between what appears on television and reality has always been a sticky bit. In a previous century, after MTV tired of showing those little promotional films for pop music, somebody pitched the idea for a show called The Real World. This was not the first time that "reality" was trotted out for us to watch at home, but this was perhaps the most confounding use of the word "real" in television history. It is perhaps notable that the third season of this long-running series introduced us to Rachel Campos, a conservative voice in a house filled with a bunch of liberal twenty-somethings who had an ax to grind about all manner of thins. When she grew up, she got a job on Fox News. 

Around that same time, somebody got the clever idea of making a showcase for America's worst boss, who spent the bulk of his time on screen bellowing, "You're fired." This buffoon never managed to have his own show on Fox, but he did manage to find his way into the Oval Office. Twice. Under the guise of being "president." This is the guy who set about hiring a great many of the "stars" of Fox News to sit on his cabinet. What better qualification could there be for this tiny-brained slumlord than to look for the best and brightest based on their appearances on "the idiot box?"

Most recently, this adjudicated rapist declared his appreciation for recently confirmed US Prosecutor for Washington DC, Jeanine Pirro: “Don’t forget, Jeanine Pirro was a great judge and a great prosecutor. Because she was so good, they drafted her into show business, and she did fantastic. You know, The Five was the number-one show, etc., etc.”

Never mind that Judge Jeanine's political career was cut short by a scandal that had her attempting to bug the boat of her philandering husband. 

I know all of this because I saw it on TV. 

God help us all. 

And don't forget to turn it off when you leave.