Rob Reynolds, senior Washington correspondent for Al Jazeera recently wrote an article asking the same questions that have perplexed some of us here stateside. Reynolds questions the American media's bias and its obsession with non-issues such as lipstick, pigs, pit-bulls, and Rubiks cubes. The question Reynolds asks is when will the real issues will be addressed? With our obsession for entertainment the real issues have taken a backseat to a colorful exchange of words coming from both parties. Earlier in the semester some students shared their frustration about the candidates avoiding the tough issues and focusing on more padded topics such as family values, hard work, and old fashioned blue collar Americans, but what happens to those hard working American families when this election is over? Will these advertised polices really take effect or will this supposed "change" be nothing more than a catchy campaign slogan, used to ignite the hopes of millions of Americans only to flicker out by December? Reynolds considers incidents such as the "lipstick" controversy manufactured; tactics used by American media to distract people from the real issues. Reynolds suggests that maybe Palin is the lipstick and McCain is the pig, I think this is an excellent point and one that has not been fully explored in the U.S. media. Is John McCain trying to pull a fast one on us? Remember, this is politics. If Palin is the lipstick she is perfect; a small town Alaskan mother of five who just so happens to speak very well and does not exactly take on the outward appearance of a Republican politician running with a 72 year old gray haired P.O.W. who(and I hate to say this) has a few Bush-esque plans for our country. I have to commend McCain's camp if this is what they are trying to do, it seems like a smart plan. Reynolds exclaims "So much for economy, war, health care and everything else we really ought to be debating. Bring on the pigs! And the lipstick!". I think many Americans feel the same way, and Reynold's article may change the way Americans see the foreign media, maybe they aren't so different after all.