Television news, whether local or national network, could be entitled Trivial Pursuit. Few of the reports are of much importance and, when one is included, such as the rash of forest fires or the latest shooting, the obvious underlying issues usually are ignored. It’s no wonder that voters are uninformed. On ABC, the latest fad is to make the reports sound like newspaper headlines, devoid of verbs, laden with gerunds. The local NBC outlet has lowered credibility and seriousness still further by hiring anchors who appear to be barely out of their teens. Much of local the broadcasts is given over to the weather, where forecasts mimic precision by giving us one or two degree variations for adjacent communities.
Speaking of voters, we in King County have received "Official Primary and Special Election Ballots." We are to vote for the County Director of Elections and two Port Commissioner positions. Why the first is an elective office is beyond me. It may be necessary to elect Port Commissioners, but the seriousness with which that process is taken is illustrated by the presence of Goodspaceguy in the race for Position 2. Goodspaceguy is an actual person who has run under that alias often enough — for various offices, unsuccessfully — to be described on Wikipedia as "a perennial candidate." It adds: "He is a self-described extraterrestrial life", who has introduced himself as coming from "Phoebe, one of Saturn's many moons." Having such a person on the ballot is a bit strange, but then Donald Trump is running for the presidency.
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