Walter Cronkite is Rolling Over in His Grave

Despite my promise to myself a few weeks ago -- in the middle of the Michael Jackson Memorial Circus -- to boycott morning news shows, I found myself watching the "Today Show" just now. (Morning radio is sometimes not enough for me, news wise, and sometimes, like the elderly who live alone, I just want some "background noise.")


I think I might have to turn off the TV again. Matt Lauer just did a 3-minute segment on whether or not it was appropriate for Michelle Obama to have worn shorts when she and her family visited the Grand Canyon. Mid-thigh shorts. Not hot pants. Not cutoffs. In Matt's defense, he prefaced the story by acknowledging that it seemed a little crazy, then went on to discuss how much media coverage it received. Gee, Matt, it's too bad you aren't in a position to not feed into this ridiculousness by covering something that actually matters. Then again, he is just the face and voice, not the producer.


Just when I started to talk myself into the idea of the story not being so ridiculous -- "Today" was more focused on the media backlash and public reaction of the shorts being worn than the appropriateness of the shorts, after all -- Matt did a teaser for the next story:


"Up next, Nora the piano-playing cat, a You Tube sensation, will play for us live in the studio!"


And now my TV is off. Even Nora the Cat, pictured here, seems to be asking, "Are you f-ing kidding me?"