Sharks!

Me, May 22:

[The federal government] goes on vacation for, like, the whole summer. And so does most of the mainstream media. Because nothing says professional rejuvenation like watching David Brooks play so many pranks on Saxby Chambliss in the Hamptons, or whatever.

So summertime in the US brings political news like, "Look at all these fucking sharks!" True Story: The summer of 2001 saw so many stories about shark attacks, shark near-attacks, and shark sightings on cable news that everyone was laughing and pointing at the cable news and calling it The Summer of the Shark. (I'm pretty sure Nero composed CNN's shark segment opening jingle.) Then some people blew up some buildings in New York. And that was the end of Shark Summer.

But not philosophically. We still act like important news only happens when the kids are in school, or something. So whatever important election-related news there might be over the next few months will probably be eaten by a shark.

So to speak.

Today, on CNN's front page:


"CNN's Brian Todd reports on additional sightings of great white sharks off Cape Cod—and what they mean."

Could they mean that there are sharks in the ocean? I guess I'll have to TUNE IN to find out!

In case the CNN item doesn't satiate your voracious desire for shark news, you can also stop by ABC, CBS, the AP, the Christian Science Monitor, the Boston Herald, Boston Magazine, and the Union Leader, among others, all of which have featured shark stories yesterday or today.

And, hey, if sharks aren't your thing, CNN is also currently promoting on its front page the story of an alligator attack in Florida and the discovery of a fish with teeth in an Illinois lake.

In other news, there is a presidential election in November, and both candidates are pretty okay with further eroding workers' rights in order to maximize corporate profits and sacrificing a robust social safety net to subsidize wealth.