Another Disaster, Another Botched Job by the Press...

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The bridge allowing drivers to cross the Mississippi River on I-35 collapsed, laying bare decades of neglect and mismanagement... and the inability of the press to actually cover a story. First of all, as disasters go, this one barely qualifies. A disaster is an emergency situation that taxes the assets of the existing infrastructure beyond it's ability to respond and recover. The response was excellent! Kudos to all the emergency responders of all stripes! The fact that a section of major highway fell into the river, and the casualties were limited to 9 fatalities and 100 injured is a tribute to the response, as well as the victims themselves. The Recovery will take some time (which is the reason this incident qualifies as a disaster). Boats rescued the motorists stranded on isles of fractured roadway; Divers are in the water searching through almost no visibility through a moving river. Those who didn't quite make it onto the bridge, or crossed shortly before the collapse wipe their brows and thank their lucky stars. A pleasure boat full of passengers sigh with relief that they were missed by it all. That's the facts on the ground. The "facts" according to the press? An endless stream of "experts" speculating on all the "woulda, coulda, shouldas". Story after story about how money spent other places could have overted this completely, if it was just spent here. Enjoying their 15 minutes, people no one ever heard of come out of the wood work saying, "if they'd only listened". While there are a few stories of every day people, turned hero, and a couple of lines decidated to "human interest" stories of the victims... Then the blame game gets most the press. and of course, "It's Bush's fault". If the press wants to do a story on corruption, mismanagement, incompetence and a total lack of professionalism, they need look no further than their own community. If 1% of the press out there has any real relevance or helps the people understand the situation better, I would be pleasantly surprised. Press, the government may be corrupt, and that bridge may be broken down, but neither hold a candle to the cesspool you have made of the only U.S. Constitutionally protected profession.