Well, I wasn’t about to open my big fat mouth unless I had the facts to back me up. And I do.

Acutely aware of the current state of the MSM and what passes for news these days, I decided to tune-in to CNN tonight – and I wasn’t disappointed. The fully-expected wallow-in-the-mud pig-fest was underway, and it was – and continues to be – of mammoth proportions.

Yes, indeedy, the media is all over the Edwards story – because this is big news, and the people have a right to know.

Of course, the naïve approach would be to say there are all kinds of things we people have a right to know. But apparently the network news outlets, what with their legendary journalistic integrity and all, can’t be expected to waste their time investigating trivial fare when the story of a man sleeping with a woman not his wife might break any second. And apparently, it has.

“I understand there was a secret meeting between Edwards and his mistress in a hotel.” Hey, you want to talk about secret meetings? How about the one between Cheney and his oil buddies at the White House? Funny, I don’t remember any probing questions about that event. Maybe if the vice president had screwed a young and fecund assistant or two on the boardroom table in the midst of those “secret” discussions, that story might have been deemed important enough to make the bottom-screen crawl.

“We’ve been told that money changed hands.” Oh.My.God. Really? Was it anywhere near as much money as Chalabi got from this Administration? Was it even close to the amount of cash that “went missing” in Iraq? THAT wasn’t even John Edwards’ campaign money – that was US taxpayers’ money. Any details on that story – yet? Or are you still verifying the details?

“He betrayed the trust of the voters by lying about his affair.” Well, put away the tar and feathers and throw a noose over the sturdiest oak, ‘cause this is a hangin’ offence. A man who would lie to his fellow citizens – well, I can’t imagine anything worse. Except maybe a president lying his country into war – maybe even forging documents, or planning faked “incidents” that might lead to war under totally false pretences – whoa, now that would really be something. And no doubt you MSM guys would be right on top of it if something like that happened. Thank God it never has.

Really, it’s understandable that networks like CNN would jump all over a juicy scandal involving a politician and a sexual liaison. Poor John McCain has had his sorry old ass hauled over the coals continually for months now: “Ambitious politician dumps disfigured wife to wed young heiress.” I realize the man is a candidate for the presidency – but will the focus on that story never die?

In the same vein, will the MSM ever get off Gingrich’s back – or Vitter’s, or Foley’s, or Larry Craig’s?

Well, I, for one, am willing to cut CNN and the rest of the TV news media some slack. I can appreciate how zeroing-in on a gossipy little trifle like the Edwards affair can take the edge off the day-in/day-out drudgery of covering the stories the media has been focused on for years now: stolen elections and vote fraud, illegal wiretapping, torture, secret US detention sites, no-bid Halliburton contracts, Blackwater, abuse of executive power, the shredding of the Constitution, the mistreatment of veterans, the sixteen words, cherry-picked and misleading intelligence, ties between the White House and lobbyists, the politicalization of the Justice Department, inept appointees to powerful positions in the DHS, FEMA and FDA, tax subsidies to the oil industry amid record profits, the outing of a covert CIA operative – the list of what the news media has been on top of is truly endless.

So why should it be so surprising that when a “news” story of no consequence – one that titillates but has no impact on the economy, the war in Iraq, the healthcare crisis, or the outsourcing of American jobs – comes along, our ever-vigilant news media isn’t expected to take a break from the serious news they’re famous for and just let it all hang out?

In closing, I would be remiss if I didn’t send out much-deserved kudos to the media types who keep bringing up Elizabeth Edwards in all of this, by reminding the audience that she is battling cancer. It’s always a nice touch to wring your hands on-air and tearfully point to a woman’s personal health tragedy - just before launching into yet another hour-long segment of dragging her husband, her children, and herself through the news cycle mud.

Well done, media. I would have been shocked had you handled this earth-shattering news in any other way.

Let’s hope a pretty blonde teenager doesn’t go missing between now and Monday – it could seriously ruin a truly memorable weekend of American TV journalism at its finest.