Priorities?

One of the main topics of news discussion this morning is a juicy little story about the family ties that exist between Vice President Dick Cheney and Democratic presidential hopefully Barack Obama. Apparently, they are eighth cousins; proving that truly all presidents and candidates are a highly connected crowd. I don't know how many presidents or candidates you can link together through blood, but the number is pretty startling, even when you exclude the obvious ones (like father and son, husband and wife).
But what is even more startling is the fact that this story is making headlines, when there are so many other important news stories brushed under the data-feeders rugs like unwanted, boring little dust bunnies. And perhaps that's what they are - because no matter what we do, they will not simply be vacuumed away, and for good reason. Take the story a few days ago about Israel's attack on a targeted location inside Syria. What? You didn't hear about this tiny puff of gray lingering in the corners of the news reels for a few days before prizing itself to the inner leg of political coffee tables? You're not alone. Israel, with the help of some friendly international intelligence, including the US, identified a possible nuclear development site in Syria. A site that though not too far along, showed striking resemblances to North Korean stockpiles, etc. This suggests that the two nations are not just pals, but they may be gathering their nuclear dust to gain prominence that would be hard to completely eradicate with an easy Israeli swiffer of planes in the night. It suggests something sinister, and the lack of Syrian outcry, or coverage of an outcry, suggests that they knew the business that was bombed was on the shady side. America doesn't seem to want to touch this one, and is letting Israel handle it. But it seems with all the intelligence people fling around, and the fears swelling around Iran, etc., it would do well to actually acknowledge known threats, or at least attempts to acquire actual nuclear technology. These small nations can go from puny to plutonium, and that is scary. We shouldn't ignore these stories, so that we can truly understand the possible threats. Let's focus more on these nation relations, and less on individual political family trees; please.