The rest of the stories

President Obama offered his version of a budget – including major tax and spending increases – to Congress and the Senate unanimously rejected it.

The question of raising the debt ceiling was up for vote, and the proposal was rejected, with 82 Democrats voting against it.  Whether they were swayed to vote against it on principle because of persuasive arguments or due to political calculus, all the rhetoric building against Republicans for opposing the debt ceiling increase just fell to pieces.

China has yet again apparently engaged in a cyber attack on a US company.

May’s job numbers were less than a quarter of expected.

The mission in Libya is changing to a more active, aggressive role by the U.S.

Month after month, tornados have ripped into the south and middle America, destroying lives and huge swaths of towns.

Housing is plunging again after weak growth, in what economists are calling a “double dip” collapse.

The combined debt of Social Security and Medicare is in the red by $107 trillion, seven times the size of the entire U.S. economy.

The dollar’s value continues to fall as inflation increases.

Consumer confidence is plunging, now lower than at any time during the previous economic woes.

Overall the economy is showing shockingly bad signs, prompting some economists to mention the “d” word: depression.

Egypt is collapsing into chaos and Muslim rule.

Greece is continuing to collapse, asking for a second bailout.

All of these things grab my attention and concern much more powerfully than whether or not some congressman tweeted a picture of his boxers to some cute coed.  Sure, the coverage is inconsistent – were this a Republican congressman, he’d already be resigning.  Sure, the culture is inconsistent – were this a Republican congressman, it would be a late night comedian punchline for decades. 

But I just can’t bring myself to care about the whole affair when the rest of the world keeps turning and bigger, more significant stories are out there.