Todd aching with the rest of us

There is ample time before November for more statements and phrases of recorded sound suitable for broadcast and analysis. Mr. Akin’s blush has probably faded. Retractions forthcoming. He made Obama’s appointment book, and gave a presidential speechwriter a writing assignment. Todd made many slap their foreheads. And on we go with the campaign, right?

Are people as disenchanted as Steve Kraske and Dave Helling assert in their piece in Sunday’s Kansas City Star? Editorial insight on the front page, “The End of the Middle”. Gloomy stuff. Opinion overshadows the news.

The Federal elections have their relevance but the media is more than the message today. The media orchestrates the election, selling their advertising time and space. It’s business. Candidates court for exposure time. They have money to spend.

Without their large print front page editorial, I wonder what we could have read for $2.00 on Sunday. Journalists bask in their media-driven aura of national division. I don’t think the American people share the linear model of left and right. Few can articulate the yardstick and explain the landscape end to end. Labels are easy to apply. But the labels have little meaning. I ached reading this simplistic article with its 11x7 inch cartoon of an elephant and mule on a broken see-saw.

What’s missing from our newspaper, the only one we have right now within a 50 mile radius, is the authenticity of this complex locale. Writers ache to write stupendous pieces that will get national attention and affirmation. Readers ache for news rather than therapy for disenchanted journalists. I’m sorry that Dave and Steve are aching. I really don’t care about Todd’s aches and pains.

I ache for some younger voices in our local political media.