I don't recall exactly when I heard Rush Limbaugh first talk about the prevalence of "SUV" in news headlines.   Basically he used this to instruct viewers on the way the news business demonizes certain things while never blaming human beings for their actions.   I just posted about how Canada's gang culture of violence has nothing to do with gang members themselves but rather is attributable to the export of the "US gun culture."   Since Rush talked about the evil "SUV," I see examples of it and other news demons everywhere.

Today there is a news article entitled "SUV crashes into downtown eatery."   The headline reads "Vehicle eluding shots crashes into restaurant."   The first line of the story reads, "The exterior of a popular downtown restaurant was damaged early Sunday when a sport-utility vehicle crashed while being pursued by someone firing gunshots from a van."   I suppose nobody was driving the thing.   Does anyone know where I can buy a car which eludes gunshots even when nobody is driving it?

WFTV.com has a story "Teen Hit By SUV After Backing Into Street During Attack" which begins with, "A 15-year-old is said to be responding to doctors after being critically injured when an SUV hit him."   Did the SUV attack him?   What is it like to be attacked by an SUV?   It sounds kind of scary.   Maybe somebody will make a movie about this.

NorthJersey.com tells of how an SUV crashes into utility pole, injuring 6 teens in W. Milford in which "Six township teenagers were injured Sunday when the SUV they were riding in crashed into a utility pole on Lincoln Avenue shortly after midnight."   Are there really SUVs available which require no driver?   Is this the same kind of car which eludes gunshots?   These six teens were "riding" in it and there was no mention of a driver so I guess you can buy such a vehicle.   I just don't know where they are sold.   If you know, please forward the information to me, I might be interested in buying one.

There are literally thousands of stories containing headlines employing the demon "SUV."   And SUV is by no means the only demonized term.   Does "pitbull" ring a bell?   "Gasoline," "Big Oil" and "Pump Price" were popular a few weeks ago.   "McMansions" is a common demon blamed for everything from global warming (another demon) to cultural downsizing.   You cannot have a conversation about demonized inanimate objects without mentioning tobacco.

Tobacco has been one of the darling demons of the media for several decades.   It is perhaps the most perfect object for our collective hate, fear, and retribution.   Smoking kills people.   It is addictive.   It is sold by evil corporations.   It was even associated with slavery.   More importantly than these demonizing factors, it has created an entire industry of people who collect and maintain statistics on smoking deaths and diseases.   These statistics are readily available to journalists.   If you add up all the stories which are easily put together about smoking, you can add up the man hours and easily conclude that smoking has kept numerous journalists who otherwise might be unemployed working.   And because the troubled news industry is starved for revenue sources, let's not forget that the anti-tobacco thing is a significant source of advertising revenue.

Smoking also keeps a huge bureaucratic infrastructure employed at the American Cancer Society and other places.   But aside from this, it contributes to an early death for many Americans.   The news media is fond of quoting statistics about healthcare costs associated with smoking but they seldom subtract from these, the costs born by sufferers, the insurance paid for by smokers - more than for the rest of us, and the cost savings associated with a shorter lifespan.   Smokers who die before the average lifespan expires, fail to collect social security for as much as fifteen years.   That's a lot of doe-ray-me.   They also do not use federal assistance for drugs, including Viagra, during those years.   They need fewer government purchased hip and joint replacement surgeries.   When they are dead they don't use government provided transportation services.   In short, those who die early from smoking not only pay huge amounts of taxes and insurance costs, they also relieve the retirement, senior medical and other assistance programs our tax dollars provide.   But because it is an easy demon, it is used extensively by the media.   And when you can blame a substance, you don't have to blame humans who at least on some level must decide to smoke.

There are other demonized terms aside from SUVs, tobacco and others but the common thread is the news media is almost always looking for easy stories with demons in the headlines.   When did our news media become so lazy?