Seriously.  Why are people talking about killing flies?  I don’t think I need to bother to link to any video excerpts, they’re all over the internet and undeserving in the first place.  Our Commander-in-Chief killed a fly.  Last time I checked, he wasn’t a buddhist so I doubt this is any serious breach of personal ethics.

But here’s the bigger point.  Last week, I made the point that Congress needs to focus on important, essential work, rather that petulant, petty politics.  The media needs to hear the same message.  Since Obama’s inauguration, the media has felt the need to make every ‘first’ a parade-worthy news item.  The fact is, the ‘first insect-killing by an African-American President’ isn’t news worthy.  It’s barely YouTube worthy. (Sidenote: At the time of this writing, despite the video of the fly assassination being listed as a “Hot Topic” on the front page of The Baltimore Sun’s web page, it isn’t anywhere on the front page of YouTube).

We rely on the media to keep us informed on important events.  Spending time on grading the first 100 days of the Presidency (or any other arbitrary chronological mark), the adoption of a first dog, or the smashing of a small insect, takes away from coverage of important issues like Obama’s announcement of benefits for same-sex partners, Iranian election controversy, or any other world news event that could possibly affect the lives of the people engaged by the media.  I mean, really, I know American Idol is over but I promise there is still news-worthy material out there.