Adam Kotsko:

One is forced to conclude that political coverage is not meant to inform us about how to vote. What, then, is it for? I have said that the business press is meant for people who are making daily ongoing decisions in pursuit of a clear goal, so what is the equivalent for the mainstream press? I would suggest that such coverage exists primarily to encourage us, each and every day, to make the decision to care less. The very disproportion between the information we are provided and our miniscule ability to influence events encourages us into habits of passivity and apathy, and “both-sides” framing sends the message that it makes no ultimate difference who is in charge. The effect is similar to the familiar dynamic of decision fatigue, except instead of standing paralyzed between dozens of brands of toothpaste, we stand transfixed by the spectacle of a political world that does and can have nothing to do with us.

Offered without comment, mostly because I’m a bit hungover.