Coffee Break: Optimistic editor gives way to old, cranky one

Clarissa French is editor of the Springfield Business Journal.

I must be getting old and cranky.

Well, cranky, anyway.

While I haven't started telling longwinded stories about tromping to school through 3 feet of snow (uphill both ways), that day may not be far away.

I'm not yet 40, but I'm beginning to think like 60. I'm jaded with politics and offended by television "news" reporting. I don't understand modern American youth or its fashions. And I'm going to gripe about it.

The government

For much of my life, no matter who was in the White House or in Congress, I always maintained the attitude everything would be OK.

I trusted our country's leaders.

OK, that was a little strong. I trusted them about as far as I could throw them, in part because of a formative memory of my mother's reaction to Watergate (she took photos of our television at the historic moment that Gerald Ford pardoned Nixon; either she couldn't believe her eyes or she was gathering evidence for Ford's impeachment, I've never been sure which).

But even if I didn't trust politicians, I at least had some confidence that intelligent dialogue was occurring and that the welfare of the people was somewhere on the agenda.

Now I see our legislators as unruly children. They're either carrying on like tantrummy 2-year-olds, pointing fingers and whining like jealous siblings, or fighting among themselves over who gets the last scrap in the pork barrel.

I don't see dedication to taxpayers; I see dedication to campaign contributors. I don't see a focus on the public good; I see a feeding frenzy of political payoffs.

There's a lot of lip service to nonpartisan effort, but very little nonpartisan effort.

What this country really needs is a third-party candidate with charisma, business savvy and leadership ability who represents the middle-of-the-road, common-sense American. Someone who isn't weighted down with the political baggage of either party.

Since the two parties can't seem to work together on anything, they would cross each other out and make the third-party choice a shoo-in.

The problem is finding a candidate. Reference the story of Sodom and Gomorrah for the difficulty of finding just one good man (or woman).

Television

I hereby announce that I have officially given up on 98 percent of national television news coverage.

I now have zero tolerance for the smarmy talking heads on CNN, FOX and MSNBC, while the network news doesn't really tell me anything I didn't already read in a newspaper or hear on KSMU.

With the big cable news programs, what passes for "news" is better defined as "news-tainment." In other words, it's not really important, but at least it's salaciously fascinating.

And that's the problem.

Why is the country fascinated with loudmouthed morons who spout polarized opinions that do nothing but drive a wedge between people? Is it just that everybody loves a fight except me? Are we experiencing the Jerry Springer-ization of broadcast news?

As of now, if it isn't on "The News Hour with Jim Lehrer," I'm not interested. I prefer to receive news from someone who assumes that: 1. I have a fully functioning brain; and 2. If informed, I can make up my own mind about issues.

Spare me unnamed sources, the Hollywood update and dogmatic partisans posing as responsible media. If I want entertainment, I'll read a book.

Youth and fashion

The other day, I saw a young man out walking with his girl. When I saw what he was wearing, I wondered aloud, "What is wrong with that child's pants, and why is he using his face for a pincushion?"

The pants I've seen on some of the boys out there reminds me of elephant-leg bellbottoms from the 1970s. Except the "bell" starts at the crotch of the pants, and the crotch of the pants hangs somewhere around the wearer's knees.

If the waistband of your pants is at mid-thigh, how do you keep your pants up? Do kids superglue them to their boxer shorts? Do their mothers stay up nights sewing their pants to their underwear? How do they run away from big dogs or bolt across a busy street without falling down?

On piercings, as with all accessorizing, I think that less is more.

I also think I must be getting old and cranky.