the 24-hour news cycle

We are completely over-saturated, a pattern that began during the election which hasn't truly abated (though I've stopped checking 538.com). Canada was an incredibly welcome and refreshing departure from the all news all the time groove in which we find ourselves. 2 newspapers a day, the Newshour on PBS, Rachel on MSN, Daily Show and Colbert, daily checks of the Politico, Huffington Post and Wonkette, less frequent but still present checks of Daily Beast and Daily Kos. Has to stop -- can't be healthy, this hyper-focused and almost fetishist obsessing about everything political, the endless punditry, the minor stories over-inflated to maintain the election intensity, the hardening of positions on both right and left. Everything is at fever pitch, and all the time. In Canada we got little news -- quick reads of the Times headlines on line, and whatever we could pick up on CBC radio (they've got a great public radio station broadcast from Moncton, NB.) It was a blessed relief. But of course when we returned home we picked up right where we left off. Hard habit to break. And that obsessing made it all the much harder to deal with the excessive and ridiculous Michael Jackson coverage, which was not only completely out of proportion but eclipsed the real news going on in Iran, in North Korea, and here at home. ok, venting complete.