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I get varying reactions when I tell people that I quit watching television 15 years ago. Some people look at me as though I’m a alien from Mars. Many, though, nod knowingly and say, “Oh, I don’t watch the stupid shows. I just watch it for news.”

What those people don’t understand is that they’re watching the most dangerous thing on television. If you want to watch so-called “reality” TV or low-brow humor, I might laugh at you, but you aren’t under the impression that you’re educating yourself. You know exactly what you’re getting.

The people who watch the TV news channels, however, are under the mistaken impression that they’re being educated about the issues. They don’t seem to realize that what they’re getting is entertainment in a news format. They don’t understand that “television news” is the ultimate oxymoron.

This is counter-intuitive for most people, who assume they’re doing a good thing when they avoid the “stupid shows” and they instead watch news and similar programming to “educate themselves about the issues.” So why do I claim they’re mistaken?

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If you really want to be successful in politics — in a big way — you need to first sell your soul to the devil. Or, at the very least, you have to shred your ethics and learn to lie. Without that foundation, you’ll never make it far.

Some people believe I’m being cynical or maybe just kidding when I say such things, but I’m not. I’m dead serious. If you’re really going to tell the truth and keep your promises and be consistent with what you’ve said before, you’re in big trouble, because you’ll be living in a world where pretty much everybody else is willing to change stories or ethics or principles as they have incentive to do so.

I could pick on almost any major politician, but the story that brings this to mind right now is something going on with Barack Obama’s administration.

When Obama came to power, he made a lot of noises about having the most ethical administration ever. Blah, blah, blah. That’s all I hear when politicians start saying such things. Pretty much every president comes to power making similar noises, because he’s been “cluck, clucking” at the other side for their infractions on his way to office. Once they’re in power, though, their administration does the same things the other ones have done.

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When’s the last time a first-term president lost re-nomination by his own party? I can’t think of a time it’s ever happened, but some people are starting to suggest that Barack Obama is so unpopular that Hillary Clinton has a shot at the Democratic nomination for next year. Are they crazy or could there be something to this?

It’s far too early in the process for me to make predictions about who’s going to win, so I’m not ready to come down hard on either side of the discussion. But the fact that I’m seeing it mentioned so frequently is a strong indication of Obama’s possible electoral weakness right now.

When it was just Dick Cheney suggesting that Clinton run against Obama, you could write it off as a Republican eager to sabotage an incumbent Democratic president. You could also say that James Carville was just living up to his “ragin’ Cajun” image when he wrote blunt advice to Obama about what he had to do to survive.

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