...get such satisfaction out of the gruesome deaths of nearly 3,000 people in the city he presided over? Have you ever seen someone smile so broadly at his role in a bloody, largely avoidable catastrophe? Have you ever seen a country's citizenry so richly reward a man whose political corruption included a no-bid deal for emergency radios which were never field tested, which didn't work and which resulted in the additional deaths of would-be rescuers who couldn't hear an order to evacuate because they had been given back their old, inadequate radios?

What a world we are living in these days.....

Jerry Falwell was a huge asset to them. On camera he appeared affable. He did not bring down the fire and brimstone when he appeared on cable news shows. CNN fell in love with Falwell. They made him. They were enthralled with this pleasant-looking man who smiled, had a good speaking voice and had his talking points lined up in a folksy row. "Hey, he doesn't look and sound like your average evangelical preacher. And he talks real good. He claims he represents millions of Americans. Let's put him on speed dial for whenever we want a conservative southern evangelical to take up some of our lonnnng 24 hours of airtime. He makes a great spokesperson and he drives non-evangelicals crazy. Ya gotta love him!"

But Falwell is dead and Dobson, Randall Terry and others just don't strike the same chord. Smarmy Ralph Reed has been publicly exposed as a con man. Pat Robertson has called for the assassination of foreign leaders while he supports the thieving, thuggish Mobuto regime for mercenary reasons.

I think the influence of the religious right will wane for a bit. They're always complaining, they're never satisfied, they always want more. Sure, they pour money into conservative causes but pols are getting tired of them and want a break. John McCain couldn't have picked a worse time to veer willdly off course and into the arms of the fundies.

But they won't go away. They'll wax and wane for as long as there is a USA.

I watched CNN every day - sometimes for 20 minutes, sometimes for a couple of hours, but I watched it every day. The weekend was when CNN aired its entertainment news. Oh, and whenever Larry King was on - that was an entertainment segment. I never watched Larry King. But I did watch Elsa Klench if she happened to be on when I tuned in, because she cracked me up.

I haven't watched CNN for several years now. CNN is like a familiar relative.. an aunt or an uncle who was fun and centered during the prime of their lives, but who went a little crazy. Like Uncle John who used to be cool, but decided to dye his hair, wear a toupee and date women 30 years younger. Or Aunt Theresa who suddenly left her husband and kids and ran off with a 20-something tennis pro from the resort she and the family had gone to for years. Not only are Uncle Joe and Aunt Theresa self-deluded, but they wrecked everything they'd had. And for what? Short-term gratification? Self-congratulatory kicks?

That's what's happened to CNN. It used to be something people relied on, something people respected. Then one day CNN dyed its hair, had its teeth bleached blindingly white, hired himbos and mimbos and started giggling. I trace this to the era when CNN began giving the odious Jerry Falwell credence as a "respectable" spokesman for religious people in the United States. Jerry Falwell was a noxious, bigoted, controlling conman. When CNN saw that Falwell created "controversy" they said "Kewl. He's our new religion guy. He gets attention and attention = ratings."

Add to this Larry King's obsession with odd businessman Ross Perot. Sure, Perot got ratings. The guy was a born showman. But to have a showman like Perot announce on carnival barker Larry King's show that he was a serious candidate for the presidency... that was infotainment, pure and simple, disguised as "a civics lesson."

CNN devolved and became what it is today, a lot of himbos and mimbos grinning and leering over celebrity stories who then put on their "serious faces" when the producers decide to cut to the latest live coverage of a phony terrorist threat at some bridge somewhere ("We are now watching police slow traffic... and look into cars") for the next 3 hours. Or obsess for days over the latest school shooting which CNN exploits to the last drop of phony outrage. News porn.

The few greybeards left are relegated to sideshows where they ask inane questions of equally inane but well-prepared politicians. In the event that a hardhitting question is asked, not to worry -- the politician will completely deny any fault and sidestep the meat of the question. And the grizzled old former anchor will let it slide.

And then there's "populist" Lou Dobbs, the Harvard graduate who lives on a 300 acre gentleman's farm, is a regular at the Four Seasons, uses private jets to see his pals like billionaire leverage buyout king Henry Kravis and has been paid to do promotional videos for Shearson Lehman Brothers, Paine Webber, and the Philadelphia Stock Exchange. Yeah -- Lou Dobbs is for the little guy all right. As long as the little guy buys his books and lines his pockets with more dough.

I don't know who John King is because I don't watch CNN anymore, and that is all John King needs to know ---that people who used to watch CNN every day for years no longer watch it because of people like him. He can refer to the number of people who watch whatever show he appears on as proof of something, but CNN used to count a helluva lot more people in its audience. Those people haven't all gone over to Fox. Most of them just don't watch cable news anymore, like me.

When cable news becomes news again and gets rid of stenographers and sycophants like King, we'll start watching again.