Breaking News

The headlines tell me that Kevin McCarthy, Republican member of the House, can't seem to get elected Speaker. I'd tell the details, but I no longer have subscriptions to The Times or The Washington Post, hardly listen to NPR anymore, and no longer read Twitter. I'm missing all the breaking news.

Oh well.

Two things strike me about this. One, McCarthy and his election will soon be nothing more than trivia. Try naming that last ten Speakers of the House. Second, the more important thing is the date on which I'm posting this: January 6.

A couple years ago, the orange maggot and his minnions attempted a bloody coup. Focus there. Kevin McCarthy is part of that. He was faux-outraged on the sixth, but by the seventh or eighth was licking the orange maggot's ass. He's having trouble being elected Speaker because he's a kiss-ass piece of shit who doesn't care enough about anyone but himself to be a good public servant. That news isn't breaking.

Breaking news breaks over us like waves crashing to the shore then receding back into the endless ocean. Real stories come later with reflection and professional, trustworthy journalism and editing. This takes time. Knee-jerk reactions (tweets) published in the moment do little good and too much harm. I'll wait.

This is why journalism can do good why citizen journalism is just so much bullshit. True journalism sifts through details to find the story and relies on a team to make those determinations. I'm thinking of the rigor of Woodward and Bernstein and the team at The Washington Post rather than the random nonsense of @SomeRandomAsshole on Twitter.

Elon Musk wants to sell citizen journalism as a good idea. If you didn't believe in reincarnation, ladies and gentleman, may I introduce you to the second coming of P.T. Barnum? Hucksters are in it for themselves and swindle us out of our money, time, and good sense.

McCarthy and the orange maggot are hucksters too.

I'll skim the headlines, let breaking news break and try to see the bigger stories. Like the one about Republicans attempting a coup and distracting us with nonsense about a pathetic man who sold his soul but still can't seem to get elected Speaker.