Keller @ Large: Grievance About The Grievance Of The Day

BOSTON (CBS) - I figured I was all set for today's commentary when I saw the wire-service news item reporting that the Fairfield, Connecticut police were hit by "numerous" calls to their 911 emergency line Sunday night after cable TV service in the area went out.

Now, it was a tough night to lose your cable, what with the Red Sox and Yankees on national TV.

But calling 911 to complain about it?

Listen to Jon's commentary:

An outrageous example of stupidity, as commenters on the Fairfield police Facebook page, where a plea to stop the calls had been posted, were quick to point out.

"People are such idiots," wrote one person. "Missing the last episode of 'Breaking Bad' does NOT constitute an emergency," said another.

I was all set to revisit a favorite topic today, the selfishness and cluelessness of people who would consider their momentary inconvenience cause for tying up a police line reserved for urgent matters of life and death.

But there's a problem with this particular grievance: it's based on false information.

There were not "numerous" calls to 911, despite what the police said; there was one, plus a few more to the non-emergency line.

I discovered this in about 30 seconds of online searching for more detail about the incident, something few of the dozens of news organizations that picked up the story apparently bothered to do.

And this is often the way it goes with "grievance" news, stories that highlight an alleged fact that quickly infuriates one group or another, usually political partisans, without much interest in context.

So I guess my "grievance" today is with the media and its consumers who are too often so eager to find the grievance of the day and blow it into a self-gratifying uproar, they don't bother with the truth.

Which is a problem.

But don't call 911 about it.

Related: Woman Calls 911, Asks For A Pen

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