OPINION: A good time to turn of the TV

You may recognize that as the week leading up to the Georgia Presidential Preference Primary. That is not a coincidence.

A non-disclaimer: Although I am anti-Republican (I was once a Democrat, but now I just disavow affiliation with any party), the fact that this will be a Republican presidential primary makes no difference. The week before any primary is a good time to try to break the TV habit.

This makes the assumption that the Republican presidential selection process will not be resolved before Georgia voters are subjected to the spectacle. What better week to pick up a couple of good books and to unplug the TV than the week when the only programming on the TV will be election news or election ads?

Whether you prefer Gingrich or Romney, Santorum or Paul or you’re holding out in hopes of a Draft Sarah movement, the only thing on TV worse than a week of Georgia Public Broadcasting fund-raising events offering CDs of Charlotte Church for platinum donors is a week of nonstop political advertising — a week of character assassination, attack ads and candidates accusing each other of character assassination and dirty tricks.

Turning off the TV that week offers the following benefits:

•reduction of media insanity by 85 percent

•prevents further erosion of the GOP’s reputation by keeping voters from overexposure to an event with less dignity than a middle school food fight

•could save millions of dollars in heartburn and blood pressure medications not needed

•helps voters forget that one of these guys could become president

Legislation to change the Screen Free Week to Feb. 29-March 6, could help Rep. Benton earn further accolades if it included the declaration of the same dates as “National No-Call Week,” so as to free space up on our answering machines for important calls like “this is your pharmacist; there’s been a mistake with your blood pressure medicine, please call,” instead of messages from Pat Boone or Paul Broun advising us that the only way to save America from President Obama is to vote for Newt Gingrich or Ron Paul.

That may be asking too much, but by the time the Super Bowl is over Georgians will be sufficiently saturated with Republican political ads that you’ll hear the sound of remotes slamming into TV screens from Savannah to Ringgold.

Mark Beardsley is editor of The Commerce News. He lives in Commerce.