Educational TV?

The events of the last two weeks regarding the influence of television brings up some very pertinent questions.

What next? Jihad for Dummies? IRA training in throwing bombs?

It seems like it is only a matter of time before we are training the next generation of terrorists right on broadcast television. These will be another generation of home-grown terrorists like Timothy McVeigh. They are the ones we should really fear, because they will give no warning and will be able to work among us without raising alarms.

The best way to fight this kind of war is to return to our ideals. We need to stop stomping on every other country in the world, economically and socially. Helping other countries will only strengthen ours, but we must ensure that we don't act like 21^st Century Robber Barons.

We've spent the last century pulling ourselves out of the morass left by the Carnegie's, Vanderbilt's, etc. Let's not let my son's generation bear the full brunt of the poor decisions by our leaders today.

I know I sound like my grandmother, who always told me I watched too much television, but there is a visceral power to the medium that requires the responsible use of that power. The networks have the right to show whatever programming they wish, within the laws of decency that are on the books, but with rights come responsibilities.

This is the time that we all start to act like grownups. We need to clean house this November, soak the Capitol in bleach until the stench of corruption is gone and start over.