Endless rhetoric is becoming numbing

I'm tired! I'm tired of reading bad news and I'm tired of funerals. I'm tired of hearing how my success - limited though it may be - should be shared with others. I'm tired of reading where the outgoing Blunt administration has spent $1.5 million trying to avoid releasing emails from the Governor's office.

I'm tired of hearing the Missouri Department of Transportation tell us once again that they will not have enough money to accomplish what they have already promised. I'm tired of hearing the nations of the world condemn the United States for actions taken in the Mideast by other countries. And I'm tired of hearing that Heath Ledger was the greatest actor in history for his role in "The Dark Knight," which I personally found entertaining but drastically short of history-making.

I'm tired of watching reality television that reduces mankind to the absolute lowest common denominator. I'm tired of hearing about the Obama girls and their opening school day activities.

I'm tired of listening to Sean Hannity and his refusal to accept the results of the Presidential election. I'm tired of listening to the fine citizens of north St. Louis tell us that their exploding crime rate in somehow the fault of society and not their own dismal and stupid actions.

I'm tired of the parade of industries and special interests who are standing in line with their hands out for government bailout money. I'm tired of the obsession with the middle class or the lower class or the upper class when what we actually have is a working class and a non-working class.

Granted this is just a smattering of the countless items that wear on your mind. Some are mere irritations while others are fundamental issues that bewilder the rational mind. Yet regardless of their scope, they just have me tired.

I'm also tired of pro athletes making the news for their off-field antics instead of their athletic skills. And I'm growing increasingly tired of Hollywood actors airing their political opinions as if they know something we don't.

Truth is, this list could be virtually endless. Maybe I'm just tired of winter or football or politics or all of the above.

As political powers change hands across this land, it's an unsettling time. This storm will pass in short order and routine will return to our lives. But for now, I'm tired of the endless news cycle over the same endless news items - not enough money, not enough diversity, not enough fairness. This rhetoric - like all other rhetoric - is simply getting worn. And so I am tired.

Michael Jensen