A quick review of today's press shows us that we are currently being
titillated by news of sex tapes featuring Marilyn Monroe and another
such tape featuring an unnamed British Royal. The top of the news
hour greets us with information of an intemperate statement made by a
former television executive about a current Presidential candidate;
video is plentiful of the contorted Presidential theatrics around the
Olympic Games Opening Ceremony in Beijing. We were treated today to
the visual of the Pope descending from the Alitalia jet. But, while
we have more television stations that feed us 24-hour news, we are
less informed. We have more and more political pundits feeding us,
what Fred Hampton described as "explanations that don't explain,
answers that don't answer, and conclusions that don't conclude."

Cynthia McKinney