The greatest thing about H1N1 is that it heightened social anxiety that is now out of control.

If government’s can’t control their message and act as the source for all direction, in a country with a national health care program and billions being dumped to support its existence, then people need to take this cue and start figuring things out for themselves.

Cudos to the media for enabling all of this ridiculousness. But like every other catastrophic doomsday prediction of the recent past – Y2K, moldy alfalfa sprouts, mad cow disease, etc. it’s great TV. But it’s starting to make humanity look like complete idiots.

In the last week, as the flu started to sweep across Canada with a predictable vengeance immediately after a 13 year old young rising hockey superstar from Ontario died, supposedly from H1N1, the circus began. I grieve for his parents but I don’t know if the media’s play on this was necessary. But it was unavoidable.
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The other day on Power and Politics, Evan Solomon discussed sexism in the House of Commons. This was in response to accusations by opposition members that when women stand to speak in the House, they are shouted down even louder than when a man stands up. Shocking! Predictably, the panel discussion didn’t get anywhere as this isn’t a new story – nothing has changed over the years. Ironically, this new CBC political program, discussing sexism, is a replacement show for Don Newman, who everyday for many years, with his dervlish masculinity, opened up his show with the famous lines, “Welcome to the BROADcast”.

I will never forget the episode when Newman had a very animated female MP from Quebec on the show, and for some odd reason the CBC cameraman zoomed in and out on the gap in her front teeth. She was large, wore blue eyeshadow and red lipstick. She was no Madonna. It was obviously no technical accident as a CBC cameraman on that show has as much seniority and skill as Santa does on Christmas.
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When I was growing up on the prairie, there was one way I could cure my fix for political knowledge and that was to watch the CBC nightly news and specifically Barbara Frum as she hosted The Journal.

Ms. Frum, the mother of David who south of the border crafted those three infamous words for George W Bush, “Axis of Evil”, provided thirty minutes of grilling questions to the issues of the day by hosting famous political figures and leaving none unscathed from her skill and curiosity. She was known as an exceptional journalist and her profound passion and commitment to that profession dictated her style. She was smart, tough and smart.

Now a days, and with the launch of yet again another attempt by CBC at redesign, we see Evan Solomon and Kady O’Malley trying to truncate the network’s need to pull in new, younger, savvy political fiends. I applaud their attempt, I just don’t think it will work.
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