With the President’s State of the Union Address coming up, rumors started flying around the Internet that the speech would pre-empt the premier episode of the final season of the ABC television show, Lost. Fans of the show cried foul, mounted campaigns against pre-emption and in the end won.
The White House on Friday announced that President Obama’s speech will not be on the same night as the Lost premier. Stopping short of saying that the pressure from the public played a part in the decision, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs responded to a question by ABC reporter Ann Compton by saying, “I don’t foresee a scenario in which millions people who hope to finally get some conclusion with Lost are preempted by the president.”
Two Tuesday night dates were tossed around for the annual address, January 26th and February 2nd. January 26th as nixed because American Idol is on and we all know that even Obama won’t mess with Simon Cowell.
With American soldiers being killed everyday overseas, terrorist plots to attack the country are foiled, the economy in the toilet and unemployment rates at their highest point in recent history, I would think that every person in the U.S. would be wanting to hear the annual report from the prez. It’s a shame that a fictional television show is more important than the State of the Union.
This latest incident is one that makes me shake my head and wonder where this country is heading and where our priorities lie. I could only imagine what people in other countries of the world are thinking and saying.
It’s time that President Obama reaches in his pants, finds a set of balls and says, “I’m going on the air February 2nd. If you don’t like it, get Lost.”