The bridge collapse over the Mississippi River in Minnesota was tragic indeed. I drove on that bridge last fall, when I flew through Minneapolis to attend my stepfather's funeral in Iowa.
But after seeing TV news treat it as 100% of the world's newsworthy events of the past couple days I have to say "enough is enough." If we were half as interested in the rest of the world as we are in ourselves, Americans would be amazed how much more the world would like us.
We didn't obsess over the bridges blown up day after day in Iraq. Not even the bombings in London merited 100% of the news when they happened (hey, Paris Hilton was getting out of jail, now that's "important"!). Did nothing else happen in the world the last couple days that was worth talking about? Didn't the Sunnis just walk out of Parliament in Iraq, leaving it dangling on the edge of more chaos?
Maybe people just wanted to focus on some news other than Iraq and the fights in Washington. I can't blame them for wanting an escape but its time to get some perspective folks - perhaps 30 people died in one tragedy in Minnesota.
That many people are killed EVERY DAY by bombers in Iraq. More than that were killed when the Brazilian airliner ran off the runway on landing.
We need some balance here folks. Our obsession with our own tragedies that preempt news from the rest of the world is not healthy. I'm sorry about the loss to the families, not just in Minnesota but Iraq and elsewhere.
Oh yes, we are now obsessing on bridge safety - the heavily traveled I-10 bridge over the Trinity River rates about 50%! I'm not going to obsess on that --I just won't that way in the future without wearing my swim trunks and some 'floaties'!
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