I’ll admit that I watch the news too much. I watch CNN when Larry King isn’t on, I watch CNBC when the infomercials aren’t on, I watch MSNBC when their wonks aren’t yelling at each other, and I watch Fox News when they don’t have Hannity or O’Reilly on. I’ve repeatedly had to halt my news-watching because all four have decided to watch dogs sniffing around in some hedges, or because jurors were expected back from deliberation in some high-profile case. It is understandable for them to do this, because there’s a chance of breaking news that the public wants to see.

The past three days have been something else, though. The only news channel I can get any non-Reagan stories from is CNBC, and that only because they have a stated goal of showing busines news above and beyond any other journalism. CNN, MSNBC, and Fox have turned the world into a three-day all-Reagan-all-day spectacle with no end in sight. So far this week, I have yet to turn on Fox News without see live coverage of Reagan’s casket. Yes, live coverage of a casket. Is the news director there concerned that the 93 year old alzheimers victim is going to claw his way out and feast upon the flesh of the living?

This is not about Ronald Reagan. I have nothing in particular to say about the guy. This is about how american television news fails us on a regular basis, and how particularly obvious it is this week.

The public has been informed of his death. The journalistic responsibility has been met. People who are upset about it are upset. Other things are happening in the world that we should know about. It’s time to move on. 72-hour live coverage of a corpse is sick, sick, sick, and sick.