Opaque Lucidity

X Marks Nothing

Drudge is all over a story concerning a graphical ‘X’ that appeared over an image of Vice President Cheney on CNN. Evidently, the image appeared more than once, but was shown so quickly that it was hard to see with the naked eye. Subliminal message? We’ll probably never know.

Why does anyone care about this? It has been the top story on Drudge for about 12 hours now, which has certainly contributed to the blogosphere firestorm. But those of us who are acutely aware of the MSM’s bias have to be careful here, for making a bonfire out of a spark like this, even if intentional, can get one admitted to the tinfoil hat brigade in a hurry.

And even if some crafty producer pulled this stunt on purpose, does it do anything other than prove what clear-thinking people have known for years? CNN, MSNBC and their ilk have lost the news channel war to Fox News specifically because people who bother to pay attention to what’s going on in the world grew tired of liberal spin. Does Fox have a conservative spin? In comparison, yes. But, according to the Pew Center, professed conservatives watch more news on TV than professed liberals (or progressives or whatever touchy-feely word they’re using today), so it makes sense that, when given an alternative, viewers will move away.

As their situation becomes more desperate, you will see the old news giants try more and more stunts to win back ratings. It’s not an occasion to get angry---it’s more an occasion to point and laugh.