Hugh Douglas is not a credible reporter

As I was getting dressed and ready for work this morning, I had the tv tuned to FOX29 for local news. (Myphl17 looks like they are running it out of someone's basement - completely unwatchable).

Hugh Douglas is a great personality, and excels at breaking down sports highlights (not so much with the reading scores part), and they are looking to see how much they can do with him. However, Hugh Douglas is NOT a credible reporter.

This morning's segment featured Hugh in a E85 Flex Fuel Chevy Avalanche going over all of the great features. Having previously shopped for one (WAY USED), I can tell you it is an innovative, roomy and powerful truck. It also goes for $56,000 new. Hugh, being an ex Defensive End (hint: one of the higher paying positions on the football field), went on at the end of the segment to talk about how that truck was a great buy for the money. You know, for the guy towing his boat to the shore.....

(Aside to GM executives: the old rule of thumb was to spend a couple of times your annual salary on a house, not a car. Get in line with reality - I will buy one off the used car lot in 5 years and pay less than 20k for it. Probably less than 15k. This is why automakers suck. And FAIL.)

Are you kidding me? A former pro athlete telling me that the big rims and chrome accents make that truck worth 56k? A guy who made that kind of money in a week, telling me that I should sell my wife's WIC checks to put money down on one of those. Ridiculous, and not the least bit credible. Meanwhile the blonde car model is doing Sports......

I guess my biggest problem with it is, I understand the difference in what is a good value for my money, what fulfills my needs, and what is a waste. We are a country that was nearly toppled from debt and overspending. Credit is tightening, and with new rules, credit card companies are going to look for new ways to get the advantage on consumers. I understand this, but a lot of people do not. Just like the results from last nights reality show is not news, the reality show is not reality. People are so hypnotized by the television that they don't understand that their reality is nothing like television. There are stories about how the economy is struggling, but there is no education for people to improve their own circumstance. Athletes and entertainers are paid exorbitant sums of money, spend ridiculous amounts on sunglasses, shoes, cars, and are then held up as the standards that our children should aspire to.

And when the "crisis" is over, the schools and the media will go back to failing people again - failing to educate, and selling the same snake oil reality that nearly ruined the people on the other side of the cameras.