Can We Talk About Something Else?

Do you ever get to the point where you wonder if the talking heads will ever find anything new to talk about? I think we're there. Seems like we're just beating the same stories to death day after day. My friend Stan in Greeneville says he's found a cure for all this frustration - he just doesn't watch it or listen to it anymore. He just tunes his television and radio to something other than the news. He says his attitude is a lot better when he's not subjected to the 24 hour news cycle. I think he's onto something.

So here's my list of things I'm tired of hearing about:

• Tiger Woods - From a pure golf skill level perspective, there's none better. But he cheated on his wife and he got caught. End of story. I don't care how many he cheated with. How many cars do you have to steal to be a car thief? And I don't care if he apologizes. He doesn't owe me anything. So move on. Trust me, if he can convince his wife to stay with him after this, he's not only a good golfer, he's a pretty good salesman, too.


• Healthcare Reform - Stop talking about it. It's not going to happen. There is no one on any side of this issue who's willing to give even a little. So quit wasting everyone's time. We've been on this one for 13 months and are in a deadlock. Pronounce it dead and move on.


• Bipartisanship - Sames goes for this. The Democrats want everyone to do it their way and the Republicans want to scrap everything and start over. My suggestion - don't vote for a single incumbent and see if we can do better with a new batch. Can't do any worse.

• AT & T/Verizon Maps - Anytime two companies claim to be the biggest or the fastest, one of them is lying. I finally noticed that one claims to be the biggest and the other claims to be the fastest. Big deal. Here's my question - who's the best? And lose the maps, for Goodness sake!

• Toyota - They have some quality issues, needless to say. But they're in the process of fixing them. Move on. Why does Congress have to get involved? And what would they know about it, anyway? All the "buy American" folks are coming out of the woodwork now, as if GM and Chrysler are any better. At least Toyota is doing it with their own money.

• Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien - I don't know much about the television business, but I know if you don't get ratings, you don't stay. Same story here. Apparently Conan was so bad, it was worth $35 million just to get him off the air. If only I could get someone to hate me that bad.....

• Sarah Palin - I'm not saying she should stop talking altogether, just that she should stop until she can say something intelligent - which is roughly the same thing. I hear some people say she's "refreshing." I'm not sure what that means. What kind of condition is your life in when someone with an IQ like Sarah Palin look refreshing? It's scary, I tell you.

• Danica Patrick - I should preface this by saying that I am not a racing fan. I'm sorry, but I just don't get it. Drive fast, turn left, stop when you see a flag. But why all the ballyhoo over Danica Patrick? I think she's won one race in her career. I haven't seen this much coverage of someone who hasn't done anything since, well, Barack Obama. Maybe her first year will turn out better than his. Maybe we should get her ideas on healthcare. Couldn't hurt.

Well, that's probably enough for now. Maybe when spring gets here we'll move on to things like baseball and the midterm elections. Lord knows we could use a change of scenery.

Till next time..........