The level of ridiculousness on the TV news networks has gone beyond anything I could have possibly ever imagined. I’m not even going to point out any particulars, because it’s not particulars. It’s the whole damn mess being shown on every damn news network. If you don’t agree that TV news has lost its mind on the whole, you either aren’t watching it or you need to have your brain examined.

Just a thought before I go make dinner: the text of speeches should not be released to the press before the speeches are made. The press, such as they are, should be forced to doing it the old way and having to listen to the speech as it is being made, just like the rest of us. This is something that has been bugging me for a while, and it’s been bugging me a lot the last few days. Having already read all the speeches in advance, the press at the convention decides who is important to listen to and therefore, who they can talk over and ignore — in their opinion anyway. Thank heaven for C-Span and its blissful lack of talking heads deciding what I need to hear!

I could read Obama’s speech tonight right now if I wanted to. I just ran across it with added political commentary, and its hours before the speech will even be presented to the public! I feel like people started releasing the text of speeches to the press in advance in an effort to cut back on misquotes, but that’s not what it’s being used for now. No, now it’s being used to get a jump start on the commentary of analysts and talking heads of all flavors long before it even happens. It’s completely stupid. Was the press talking about MLK’s speeches before he actually made them? Quoting them in their entirety and adding their own insipid commentary? No. They had to listen along with the rest of us poor slobs.

Yesterday I heard there were 4000 delegates at the convention and some 20,000 people carrying press credentials. That, my friends, is utterly ludicrous.

One more thing to say before I pop off to the kitchen to make dinner. Now that I have seen the “ancient Greek temple” stage design, it’s really not all that impressive or obnoxious, and it does, in fact, look exactly like every government building I have ever seen. Hell, it’s far more sedate and understated than the stage at the indoor venue. It’s even more sedate and understated than the set designs of the major news networks!

Time to throw together some sandwiches and soup and get ready to watch some more speeches. Did the conventions really have to start right after the Olympics? I am so tired of watching TV, but it’s all stuff we really have to watch. Forced TV viewing. How fun!