When so much hangs in the balance, that's beyond irresponsible. It's treason, by either of the two definitions in my dictionary:

1. Violation of allegiance toward one's country or sovereign, especially the betrayal of one's country by waging war against it or by consciously and purposely acting to aid its enemies.

2. A betrayal of trust or confidence.

It is no exaggeration to describe George Bush as America's enemy. He and his cohorts stand foursquare against every principle America is proud of, from 'open, honest government' to 'freedom of speech', from 'innocent until proven guilty' to 'liberty and justice for all'. American troops are at war in two nations without any sane reason, and the Bush-Cheney administration is leading the nation toward a third war...

And the news is nowhere to be found at CNN. It is obvious that CNN and other American news media have betrayed any trust Americans' once had for journalism.

If you have the time and internet savvy to seek out alternative and foreign news sources, then you know that America is in grave peril. We have a President who has never told Americans the truth about anything, who has exercised abysmal judgment about remarkably important matters, who breaks the law with impunity and announces it plainly and often. The Bush-Cheney administration has committed dozens of impeachable offenses, but it's impeach-proof, because Bush's Republican Party controls Congress, and allows no oversight of the White House.

But if you don't have the time or don't know where to look beyond bland American mainstream news, chances are you don't know much of the above.

We don't have cable TV, and haven't for years. Instead we listen to lots of talk radio, on a local station that plays CNN Radio News at the top of the hour. In a four-minute newscast, CNN's top story is almost perpetually pabulum. CNN will reliably report when the latest pretty white woman is kidnapped, or when somebody's lost kitten is found, or when a celebrity is caught in an embarrassing situation.

Do you know what I learned, listening to CNN Radio News on Sunday and Monday? A dog playing 'fetch' with its owner somehow got a stick lodged in its throat. The sexiest woman in show business is no longer Jessica Alba or Angelina Jolie, it's now Scarlett Johansson. The Muslim divorce chant ("I divorce thee, I divorce thee, I divorce thee") is legal, even if the husband is such a coward he says it while his wife is asleep.

And no, I am not making this up. That was the news at the heart of CNN Radio's hourly news updates.

When CNN Radio News actually does touch on a subject that's newsworthy, they'll first make sure all the facts that matter are removed. Yesterday, for example, CNN Radio News reported that the House of Representatives had passed an immigration bill, and that Congressional Representatives applauded when it passed. CNN mentioned nothing about the content of this despicably evil bill that will, if it becomes law, illegalize babysitting for "illegal" immigrants, outlaw giving "illegals" a lift or a sandwich or a Band-Aid. CNN said nothing about the huge protests that have been held against this bill, nothing about the Catholic Church's stand against it, nothing to provide any context at all. They merely reported that a bill had passed the House, and members of Congress applauded.

Then it was back to the fluff and non-news stuff. A preacher's wife is accused of killing her reverend husband. Somebody's house burned down. An NFL player was arrested for boisterous dancing at a night club. That's the standard for CNN's radio newscasts -- all this in a newscast that only lasts four minutes, presented just once an hour, with each hour's newscast almost invariably including a few minutes of "rerun" material from the previous hour.

For us, since we're listening to an ongoing, fairly intelligent discussion of news on a talk radio station, the break for CNN News isn't a break for the news, it's a break from the news. But it's a syndicated newscast, so those few minutes of fake news are the only news listeners will hear on hundreds of rock'n'roll, jazz, or oldies stations, all across America.

Which means, millions of listeners will hear virtually no news. Or fake news.

CNN Radio even has the chutzpah to end its radio newscasts with the most frightening words regularly aired on any commercial broadcasts: "This is CNN, the most trusted name in news." If that's true, that's why Americans don't know the grave peril their nation faces.

CNN, and its equally empty colleagues at Fox, ABC, NBC, and CBS, have helped the White House convince Americans that the nation's most dangerous enemy is an Iraqi rebel, or an al Qaeda terrorist. But that's a lie, and most professional reporters aren't dummies; they must know it's a lie.

America's most dangerous enemy, by far -- the enemy seeking to destroy our way of life and eliminate our freedoms -- is the enemy in our midst -- the enemy in our White House.

Media that won't report that fact, is media that's aiding and abetting the enemy.