It’s become a bit of a fixation for me, to tune into Good Morning America at around 7:25 a.m. for my daily dose of the commentary on the Casey Anthony trial.  Not because it’s informative.  It’s not.  Not because I learn about the case.  I don’t.

I watch the tube because it’s like a car crash from which I can’t turn away.  Robin Roberts seems to take the helm for this segment, though George Stephanoupolis gets to sit at the desk from time to time, as they offer the insight of their Casey Anthony trial pundits.

First, there’s Dan Abrams, Floyd’s boy.  I first met Danny when he was the baby lawyer in residence in the wilds of Secaucus, New Jersey, also known as MSNBC.  That was when lawyers were brought in to do six hour stints on the case of the day, with news readers like Ashley Banfield, when she was a cute blond and didn’t wear her “I’m an intellectual so take me seriously” glasses, and Rick Sanchez in his peculiar pastel colored shirts.

Dan was a nice kid, well spoken and bright.  He had a law degree and a bright future as a TV lawyer personality.  He was curious and perky; Now he comes off as overly serious and emo, which is too bad.  What Danny was not was a practicing lawyer.  Ever.  Not criminal. Not civil. Not trial. Not transactional. 

Dan’s commentary on the case, notwithstanding his lack of any basis to offer it, has been pretty decent, with some astute observations, though a bit heavy handed on the “most important thing” of the day.  Of course, since he’s a TV pundit rather than lawyer, he appreciates the need to be emphatic to generate some melodrama and interest, or he won’t have a gig.

Second, there’s everybody’s favorite oversprayed Perpetual Prosecutor, Nancy Grace.  Why GMA would give her airtime is beyond me, but watching her is at the heart of my morbid fascination.  The noise that emits from her mouth range from the blitheringly stupid to the insanely wrong.  There is no other person that I can think of who has done as much to make the public ignorant about the law than Nancy Grace.  And I don’t think she’s really blond.

What is particularly troubling about Grace’s spewing a constant stream of stupidity is that it goes unchallenged.  Today, she opined about smell evidence, which she asserts must be good because anybody who’s ever smelled a dead body knows that it smells like.  This was one of her more sophisticated arguments, beating the crap out of her typical “where there’s smoke, there’s fire,” type stuff and insistence on calling Casey Anthony “totmom,” which is just pointlessly dumb.

Danny, sitting there in his pundit chair, could call Nancy out on the more ridiculous things she says, but he doesn’t.  I’m sure that he sees no benefit to getting into a tiff with her, but I wonder whether he disagrees with the absurd things she says or even realizes how outrageously uninformed she is.  I get angry with Dan for this failure every time, even as I watch Nancy Grace in horror.

Third, what is Good Morning America doing?  Sure, it’s entertainment rather than news, and has been for a long time, since Diane Sawyer did her dead baby interviews, asking the mother of the child murdered the day before, “how does it feel that little Joey was found murdered, sexually assaulted and mutilated?”  It was Sawyer and GMA that turned it into classic television.

But is there no desire to maintain any credibility?  Sure, dignity was lost long ago, but at least you can make a half-hearted stab at providing the public with information that won’t leave it dumber than when it made the mistake to tune in?

Being a big proponent of the First Amendment, prepared to safeguard and fight for the freedom of the press at a moment’s notice, I note that there’s a giveback to this enormous power.  Don’t spread crap.  Don’t use the power for evil instead of good.  Try to educate and illuminate.  Try to get the facts right.  Don’t give air to morons to spread bad information, specious or facially ridiculous arguments.

Try not to leave the public dumber for having watched.  Is that too much to ask?