This clip from The Daily Show ran back in February 2011. I don’t watch CNN so I don’t know if they are still doing these absurd things to try and attract a greater audience or if they have sunk even lower, if that is even possible.
(This clip aired on February 28 2011. To get suggestions on how to view clips of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report outside the US, please see this earlier post. If the videos autoplay, please see here for a diagnosis and possible solutions.)
I suspect a lot of this is driven not by the average stupidity and shallowness of the American public but rather the simple fact that the vast majority of Americans have been systematically traumatized by the last forty years. The American dream is a member of the walking dead. Prospects for a better life for our children are strong only if you move from Guatemala, or some other impoverished nation, to the US. The trend for those who have been here all along are dismal.
Pretty much everything that is good and right about the nation has been systematically dismantled. Unlimited cash, gerrymandering, voter suppression, and the propaganda about government being unable to do any good,have destroyed democracy. The dependency on business for money, and fear of upsetting guests have crippled the press at the same time well financed propaganda outlets have muddied the water as to what is journalism.
It is no big surprise why so many turn to conspiracy theories. Even the darkest and most lurid of plots are positively lighthearted compared to the emptiness of reality for the average American. Hard work and playing by the rules is clearly a suckers game. There is little or no hope.
Traumatized people tend to want to avoid deep discussions of important issues. I knew a man who came back from Vietnam so broken that the only thing he could watch on TV was cartoons. Anything more serious and he would lock up and freak out.
A lot of people have that same problem. They fill their days with distractions to fill the time. Kardashians, cat videos, and IMs about what they had for breakfast get them through the day. It is a world of shit and it gets worse every day. You don’t need a journalist to tell you that.