How is that ironic?

The USA does not have tabloid newspapers as they are known in other English speaking countries. I don’t mean the paper format, but the highly competitive populist right wing, conservative, sensation seeking, rabid jopurnalism of the kind that Rupert Murdoch runs in the UK.

We would be lucky for that, except that this absence creates a driver for radio and television to move into that space. Indeed, it explains why Fox News is the way it is, and why it is so important to Murdoch for exercising the political power that he craves.

So now in the USA the eletronic media is on a race to the bottom, and beating up sordid little stories like this one is all part of the game. Creating outrage is good for ratings. Racist nerves are the most easily jangled. Other triggers are gun control, creationis, and abortion.

Still, an incident like this one would have barely made page three in a local newspaper a few years ago. I would like to think that the widespread outrage is a sign that America is maturing about racial equality. More likely, it is a tricky media racist way of reminding us that our President is a black man who will rob us if we drop our gard.