To the Editor:
John Prine, one of America’s finest songwriters/poets died the other day from COVID-19. He was just 73. Not much of a voice but he wrote some of the most poignant lyrics ever. “Angel from Montgomery,” “Paradise,” “The Speed of the Sound of Loneliness,” etc. Such beautiful, insightful words.
Since his death last Tuesday, there have been lots of reminiscing about John in the media and this got me to thinking of what he might have thought about the media and the reasons for the current large political divide in America.
I’m making a big assumption but I think he would come have up with something like this, but much better I’m sure.
I was channel hopping the other day
And this is what I found:
According to ABC Trump’s a dirty hound.
But then I switched to FOX news
And this is what they said:
“Trump walks on water, man,
and he can raise the dead.”
Chorus:
Biased news is not the news
It’s opinionated ink.
They don’t just report the news
They tell you what to think.
So, I flipped over to CNN
to hear Chris Cuomo say,
“Trump really messes up,
almost every day.
We are going downhill
and it’s all because of him.
Trump’s a dirty bastard
and the cause of all our sin.”
Biased news is not the news
It’s opinionated ink.
They don’t just report the news
They tell you what to think.
Switching back to FOX news
Where Sean is going strong.
“Trump is our salvation;
he can do no wrong:
To me he’s nearly perfect,
Lock that in your vault.
And if he does make mistakes
It’s someone else’s fault”
Biased news is not the news
It’s opinionated ink.
They don’t just report the news
They tell you what to think.
OK, let’s go to NBC and the Rachel Maddow show.
Her bottom line, as always, Trump has got to go!
How can our country
survive in times so bad?
With a leader so incompetent,
so silly, so sad.
Biased news is not the news
It’s opinionated ink.
They don’t just report the news
They tell you what to think.
Watch CNN or ABC
And trump’s a bumbling fool.
But go to FOX and you will see,
he’s smart – he’s wise, he’s cool.
Obviously, he can’t be both
To me the truth would seem,
He’s neither fool nor sage my friend,
He’s somewhere in between.
Biased news is not the news
It’s opinionated ink.
They don’t just report the news
They tell you what to think.
OK, it ain’t John Prine, but I think John would have liked it. You gotta do something during lockdown.
Douglas Stenzel
Village of Charlotte