Good Morning America, The Today Show, Morning Joe and the like, with a clump of people sitting around the table, having a so-called discussion, are all the same; everyone at the table talks at the same time. There is no listening. It comes through my TV speaker as a jumbled mess, something like this, “ He didn’t who said that where does it say the Democrats he went to why can’t they say nobody will vote for she was not on the campaign trail Iran didn’t Obama said, who can tell forever.” Nobody gets to make a point when it’s all mixed up like this.
It’s too bad. Because sometimes, something intelligent comes out of one of their perpetual motion mouths. And, if they listened to each other, and thought about what was said, they might increase their own wisdom (and ours). And, heaven forbid, even reconsider their position. But they don’t, so everyday they come to the table no wiser than the day before.
It’s a horrible slap in the face to the higher institutions of learning and a clear example of just how lacking a college education is these days. Most of these “non-listening” panelists attended the best colleges and universities in the nation. And, came through with stellar grades, but skipped the Rhetoric class. Rhetoric was once a mandated subject in many of these institutions, and still is, in European Universities. The art of discourse should still be mandated, so students can learn how to speak and write in a way that informs and persuades others to their point of view. The talking TV heads might have learned that it’s not effective to jump down another debater’s throat and to listen, learn and then talk. It’s obvious they prefer to “out-shout” an opponent. They claim they graduated magna cum laude, but they really graduated magna cum LOUD!
Like a lot of my old coots buddies, I’m on the other side of the TV screen from the “all – talk – at – once” panelists” doing what they’re doing, yelling at the same time, except I’m saying, “Shut up. Take turns. Didn’t you learn anything in kindergarten?”
Another annoying thing they do on these shows, mostly the morning ones, is to eat. Some pushy guest chef comes on the set to concoct a politically correct snack or entrée. The “talkers” help: one dices, another sautés and one mixes. All, showing their ineptness with standard kitchen utensils. Then, out of the oven pops the gourmet delicacy: pond raised fish guts with free range chicken beaks rolled in a whole wheat batter and cooked in an eco-friendly solar oven. The show closes with the entire panel talking with their mouths full (something else they never learned in kindergarten). Of course, they are all talking at once. The poor camera crew gets peppered with food particles. I wonder if they get combat pay?
Comments? Complaints? Send to mlessler7@gmail.com.
