"This is untoward. This is NOT TOWARD!"

I was watching Nightline earlier, hoping to see some good commentary on President Obama's announcement about his Afghanistan policy. And, as sometimes happens when it comes to mass media, I was disgusted with what ABC presented. (Hey, Disney, straighten up and fly right.)

First, the coverage of the Presidential address was weak. George Stephanopoulos had nothing particularly insightful to say, and there was no compelling dialogue between the anchor and the guests. When the President speaks, we listen. And then we want to listen to an expert break down what was said. In return, networks get to charge more for advertising. That's the general idea. In this case, the experts weren't holding up their end of the bargain. The topic tonight wasn't Sarah Palin's marriage, or Bill Clinton's infidelity, or Michelle Obama's fashion sense-- our country is at war, and the President wants to ramp up our efforts. It doesn't get much more serious. So, why is this discussion not being given due attention?

The next segment was on devolution, and how modern men are weaker and dumber than their primitive ancestors. In between the teaser and the full segment was a commercial for Cialis. I have enough trouble with the male-dominated media pimping ED medication in every available time-slot-- and then I hear an awful elevator-music cover of The Ronnettes' "Be My Baby" playing as the soundtrack to the commercial. WHAT THE FUCK!?! Is nothing sacred? We hear Led Zepellin's "Black Dog" in a commercial for Cadillac and now ersatz-Wall of Sound in a commercial for erectile dysfunction meds? Why?! It's a brilliant choice-- the song is fantastic, the lyrics are sort of a tongue-in-cheek narrative for the product-- but it's so offensive. I want to know who the hell allowed this to happen. (I know I've mentioned this before, but I am protective of art that I love-- and I LOVE classic pop songs, especially those that came from that era of songwriting and production.)

Then we get back to the devolution segment, and the journalist's on-screen commentary was done in front of some massive clay artifacts that look extremely phallic. And he gabs on about men's decreasing virility. This is right after an ad for Cialis. The rest of the segment was positively idiotic, citing Arnold Schwarzenegger, cavemen, and diffuse gems about the differences between men and women. Journalism took a massive dump tonight.

For real, what is going on? What happened to hard-hitting journalism? What happened to networks serving the public's best interest? What the fuck!?