I don't have cable, and as such, don't watch CNN. The first I had ever heard or seen Nancy Grace was on the clip attached to this story. And if you ever needed a damning piece of evidence that the mainstream media is the problem, that clip would do it.

Think of the circumstance-- here's an 18 year old young woman, victim of a traumatic event. She's a woman-- she's not a kid. She's been through more trauma than most people have been through in a lifetime, from the original kidnapping and servitude, to the resulting media circus that followed after her recovery, to the strange life she must have led all through high school after she returned to her regular life.

And she's not a victim. She's focused-- she's taken her experience, synthesized it, and gotten behind, if not contributed to, a piece of policy that needs to be understood, debated, and potentially passed into law. She could be the perfect spokesperson, in many ways-- she DEMANDS that we actually talk policy, and law-- not some sordid recounting of her story that will help no one. She's ACTIVELY trying to raise the level of the debate.

But Nancy Grace, like so many reporters, has already scripted her pandering opinion. Before Elizabeth Smart shows up on the screen, she's decided that her viewers are idiots, and unworthy of even learning about the legislation itself, let alone have her review the potential implications of said legislation (which, at the end of the clip, we still know nothing about). She forces the video clip her way, not even allowing Elizabeth Smart to say much besides "I guess."

And Elizabeth Smart smacks her down. It gives hope, from our young people, that one day they might be able to talk policy, and actually chart a way out of the current political morass. Because today's mainstream media isn't going to lead the way.

The main problem that exists in US policy is the chronic underestimation of the sophistication of the cultures that we are dealing with. We assume that the Arabs are stupid because they are Arabs. We assume that the Iranians are stupid because we believe they are Arabs. Of course, anyone that knows anything about the region knows that they are not-- that they have a 4000+ year old culture that has survived worse than us. And while most Americans might have a dim remembrance of who Alexander the Great was, they don't have a clue who Tamerlane was. And Genghis Khan-- well wasn't he the same guy that Arnold Schwarzenegger played in "Conan the Barbarian"?

If we have a deficiency in the region, it's solely because our real foreign policy has been such a success-- and the two goals of that foreign policy have been 1.) keep the oil flowing, regardless of the cost of human life; and 2.) destroy the Left in the region. Never mind that most of the Left in the region originally fell along the lines of most of the current Socialist states in Europe, or those emerging in Latin America.

So what do we have left, that's still organized? The ultra-right superkooks. In Jared Diamond's seminal book, "Guns, Germs, and Steel" he makes the point that "band beats man, tribe (an organization with actual politicians) beats band, state beats tribe." The reality of wiping the Left out of Iran is that now we are left with the only organized force in the country. And, unfortunately, those are folks waiting for the 12th Imam, similar to our own superkooks that are waiting for Jesus.

Here's a fundamental fact that we can only hope that Bush and Cheney wake up to realize. Regardless of who's in charge in those countries, we still own the oil market. That's what you get when you buy 25% of the world supply. Facilitating a government that feeds, clothes, houses, and provides medical care for the people would take us a long way-- regardless what their label is.