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Comment: A good day to bury bad news
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AP Photo/Jae C. Hong
Little did I know last week when I asked people not to be distracted by the Sanford scandal, that just a few days later a news cycle Armageddon would break out with the unexpected death of Michael Jackson.
Thursday, June 25 - the day Jackson died - the Internet almost broke under the strain of news coverage, and faux celeb death hoaxes. Fox News showed 44 minutes of Jackson coverage between 10-11am EST on Friday, June 26, the day of the Congressional vote on Cap and Trade.
While Americans of all political stripes were rending their garments over a dead pop singer, Congress first took a moment of silence to honor him (as if he were a president or Supreme Court justice), then passed the largest blow to American industry in the history of the country.
Eight Republican representatives pushed the bill through in a 219-212 vote:
- Bono Mack
- Reichert
- Kirk
- Castle
- Lance
- LoBiondo
- McHugh
- Smith (NJ)
For shame. And the worst part is, no one noticed. All day the news networks were cycling the Jackson story on a continuous loop, while Congress did what it always does: waited till late in the day on a Friday to push through something contentious and ruinous.
On September 11, 2001 while New York burned, a British Labour aide named Jo Moore said it was "a good day to bury bad news", since the world news cycles were wrapped up in the terror attacks. One might be forgiven for asking if Ms. Moore has seen fit to cross the pond and work in Congress.
There is still time to kill the Cap and Trade Bill in the Senate. Let's hope no one exciting dies the day before the Senate votes.
