Hackery

I'm no longer a Catholic because of, among other things, Sky King, airing Sunday mornings on NBC right around the scheduled children's mass at St. Anastasia's.

I had yelled at the top of my lungs so often "that's just stupid" that I was encouraged (by special dispensation) to worship at the parish of St. Magnavox along with Sky, Penny, Clipper, Sheriff Mitch and an assortment of villains straight out of the clear blue of the western sky. Not exactly Bertrand Russell, but formative nonetheless.

Religion and politics are just about inseparable; the two things carrying the most warnings of fruitless discussion make up the bulk of everyday civics. The unengaged are blissfully preoccupied with whatever the popular culture is dispensing while the engaged are hard pressed to find what they need to know in any other form.

Time was, capsule summaries of events, references to people by resumé, recollections of scholarly history and so forth were the meat and potatoes of the news business.

In a word: objectivity.