See? What'd I tell ya?

I just returned from running an errand. Dry and thirsty work it was, too. Thus, as I returned, I staggered in to an establishment where caring professionals were able to rehydrate me with a beverage of English manufacture. Whilst recovering my chemical balance, I chanced to glance up at the television where to my horror I observed Wolf Blitzer - a CNN minion - interviewing George Clooney on the situation in Darfur, Sudan.

Will someone explain to me exactly what in Mr. Clooney's resume qualifies him to issue pronunciamentos on foreign affairs or humanitarian assistance? Admittedly, any moron capable of forming a coherent sentence could say what needs to be said about the atrocities taking place in Darfur, but, Mr. Clooney's presence means that someone with real foreign policy or humanitarian relief experience didn't get heard today on CNN.

This episode only further cements my position that since the advent of the television, the line between journalism and entertainment has blurred to the point where, today, journalists interview each other and tell us it's expert testimony. Journalists now think they make the news. How many stories have you heard - out of Iraq - about journalists in harm's way? These people think THEY ARE the story.

We've got to get a grip, people. We really do.