No Wonder the Polls Went South

Being in Canada and off the web for almost five days gave me quite a lesson in what news most people rely on.

I saw CNN, Headline News, The Globe and Mail, and The New York Times.

My God, I almost thought the war had gone off its wheels over four days. The news was just a listing of deaths on our side--US and Iraqi soldiers, civilians, cops. Once there was a story on a soldier seeing his child born back in the States via the web--but that was a "poor soldier" story.

Nothing about the offensive in western Iraq or the overall declining US casualties despite some very big bombs hitting the Marines hard this month. Nothing of reconstruction. Of political progress.

Just the police blotter stories pounding bad news into the reader or viewer.

I hadn't really realized how much I've abandoned the traditional media in favor of looking for the news on my own.

But really, I'm shocked the war is supported as much as it is given this coverage.