Substance Abuse

Don't you love it when politicians complain about negativity getting all the play, then lament the dearth of coverage "substance" gets on the campaign trail? Lately Bill Clinton, for example, has been playing the victim, but he's just one of many.

First off, and most obviously, bottom lines are bottom lines, and bottom lines for media (especially one that's struggling to perpetuate its existence in a rapidly changing technological environment) coverage is numbers. More importantly, let's suppose that political stump puffery really is a significant body of information that the American public deserves to hear, and that the media should somehow be compelled (through force or shame) to provide it. Imagine pages and pages (and hours and hours) of Bill Clinton's legacy-laden homilies, the candidates' nearly indistinguishable sound bites, and focus-grouped oratory from every man on a soapbox who can get in front of a camera.

Now that's public service!