Darn you swine flu, you have done it again. You have managed to capture another five minutes of fame in the American media.

While one should be aware of the new virus and monitor their health since the virus is spreading, and has unfortunately claimed lives, by comparison, swine flu does not deserve to strike as much fear into the American public as Orson Wells’ War of the Worlds radio broadcast did in 1938.

Okay, okay, I’ll settle down a bit.

But the point is that the true sickness swine flu has inflicted is one into the values of journalism for the sake of ratings and money. Thanks for selling-out U.S. news media.

I am such a hypocrite.

Here is what has been found, though.

In the Chicago Tribune’s Washington Bureau, The Swamp, Mark Silva gives one of the few actual beneficial reports on the virus.

“While it still is likely that the spreading virus now confirmed in 30 states may claim more American victims – with about 36,000 Americans succumbing to the ordinary seasonal influenza each year – authorities said today that the initial cases of H1N1 found in the United States have generally been no more severe than the seasonal flu,” Silva reported.

How can we be so ignorant and so petty?

While the U.S. wallows in disdain that they should choose a cheeseburger over a hotdog at the baseball game, lesser-privileged nations are anxious to slap us across the face and shout, “snap out of it!”

Does half of the U.S. nation suffer from AIDS? Do we bathe in rivers that hold our own feces? Is the movie “28 Days Later” a factual foreshadowing on the fate of America?

The answer is no.

I cannot believe we have had the audacity to become so consumed with this. Was it all the news stations that created the hype, or the public’s unwarranted fear? It might be a “chicken-or-the-egg?” question.

This is not the first, and probably not the last, time that Americans have been so blind to their priorities.

We have proved how horrible this swine flu is, where we are the swine, and the media is the flu.