It's no wonder no one votes anymore

Arizona Summer Wildcat

Yet once again, in their competitive efforts, they produced nearly identical covers of Republican Presidential hopeful George W. Bush for the week of June 21.

Way to go, guys. Be original! Yeah!

While this doesn't rank up there with the O.J. covers of a few years back (when one of the dynamic duo used a computer to make the Juice look darker on its cover), it shows how bored journalists are in the post-Monica era.

They're so bored they've gone out and already decided the Presidential election.

It's Bush vs. Gore, and everyone else is an afterthought.

Now, it's nice and all to have front-runners, but if anyone had said back in 1991 that Bill Clinton would be in the November 1992 election against incumbent George H. Bush, the world would have laughed.

At this time in 1991 former New York governor Mario Cuomo was the favorite.

But rather than let the voters pick a candidate, the media has decided for them. Bush gets huge cover stories, Gore gets massive press conferences and the rest of the pack are left to fill up space between the classifieds and the comics.

And apparently all of this is working for both of them, as they've already raised more money for their campaigns than the average NBA free agent earns.

America is a fast food society nowadays, as everyone wants everything fast, quick and easy. The media is, some would argue, catering to that desire by hand-feeding the election to the public. You'd just think the media could have made better choices.

Bush is an indecisive twit who's about as experienced in foreign policy as... Clinton. And Kosovo notwithstanding, that's scary. Welcome to the global village, where foreign policy matters again (as opposed to 1992, when it was the economy).

Then there's Gore. The statues on Easter Island are more animated than he is. Also, can anyone forget what Tipper did in the 80s when she had those stupid parental advisory labels stuck on CD's? Give her the title of First Lady and be prepared to see V-chips stuck in kids' brains like in "South Park."

Speaking of which, she'll probably have Trey Parker and Matt Stone burned at the stake.

But rather than spending time quibbling about the media's choices, it's amazing to think that a long time ago people were allowed to decide on candidates through that whole election process.

Now all that's left is to cast the final ballot next November. That's right, next November. It's July of 1999 and the Presidential race has been decided. The media has polled Americans repeatedly on this issue, and so far it's come out the same every time.

This is the kind of behavior one would expect from the broadcast media, which can only digest and spit out tiny snippets of information at a rapid rate, which is sort of how the Gore and Bush campaigns are working right now.

Sure, it's early, but it's disturbing to think that the electoral process has been decided for America. The thing is, the public just eats this up. Saying that America is not impressionable in terms of what the media feeds it is like saying "American Pie" is acceptable for small children.

But at least the media isn't still the most hated group in America.

The current politicians in the House have ignored the public's wishes, rejecting the new gun control laws despite the post-Columbine anti-gun hysteria.

So no wonder America wants to choose its new leaders early, the media assumes.

But the number of voters has continued to decline with each election in this country, fed up with political backstabbing and the media's coverage of it.

Ineptitude by elected officials and a complete lack of objectivity in the media's reporting on them have combined to frustrate the public to no end. It breeds a greater apathy that continues to contribute to the national decline in the number of voters.

All of this serves to perpetuate the system as it stands. It's a freakish catch-22, and another reason the term "you can't fight the system" has become the mantra of our time.