Let's Lose This Crap

There are a lot of issues that merit being a part of the national agenda, but many of them still aren't getting the attention they deserve. North Korea is making strides toward becoming a serious rogue nuclear threat. The U.N. Oil For Food scandal has seemingly been swept under the rug. And what about those Iranians and their nuclear pursuits? Ask your buddies who don't read blogs what they know about this stuff and you're likely to draw blank stares. But ask them what they know about the Laci Peterson case and they'll drone on for hours.

Hey, I'm just as upset as the next guy that innocent people are being kidnapped or killed (or both), but these types of things happen all the time. People are kidnapped every day in this country. And murders happen every day. But for some reason, particularly when the victim is young, attractive and female, the press wants to follow the story from the missing persons report all the way through the sentencing of the perpetrator and beyond.

I want to see kidnappers and murderers brought to justice as much as the next guy, but this in-depth news coverage is distracting us from the real issues. Sure, get the word out if someone is abducted and help is needed from the public at large to track them down, but quit this nonsense about dedicating time every day to covering sensational murders where the victim just happens to be young, female and cute. No more Laci Peterson, no more Lori Hacker. Just drop it.