Idiot Nation

I’ve been watching a lot of close-caption TV lately. The baby usually wakes up to nurse around 3 a.m., so I watch the CC TV while nursing so as to not wake up the spouse. (Not that he would wake up; we’re talking about a guy who slept through two fire alarms while living in the dorms at college.)

Anyway, the other night, I noticed that MTV’s “Cribs” is close captioned, and the CC is paid for in part by the U.S. Department of Education. Does something about that strike you as odd? I mean, we’ve got lots of schools in this country that are lacking basic things like books, heating, other repairs, not to mention everyday office supplies; or while I’m at it, what about all the schools that lack drama or music departments because of the lack of funding? Yet, as a nation, we can bring the world of “Cribs” to those who cannot hear.

Then last night, The Discovery Channel was running this great documentary about the building of the Panama Canal (that’s right, I’m a nerd, but at least I’m educated!) and there was NO close caption on the documentary. What’s up with that??