In recent years, television shows have come under fire for presenting shows to the public, which address anything from the recent medicinal smoking of marijuana for chemotherapy to the effect of popular prime- time cartoon characters on the actions of children.

Now, perhaps the debate is still continuing about whether or not certain drugs have medicinal purposes, but the debate about what is real and what is fiction has not; neither has the discussion about what is right and wrong.

Let’s look at the facts: first, it should be a parent’s job to help kids understand what is going on in what they watch. Second, there are plenty of things we can learn from television, whether it be watching the news or news programs.

Even those sometimes silly talk shows and sitcoms have a bit of information in them.

But it doesn’t take television to pimp anything to anyone, and it doesn’t take government officials to pander to their respective political parties, either.

So, perhaps some of our government officials should attack the real issues concerning television like the violence, the language or the treatment of minorities and women.

Maybe they need to save some of their statements for these points of interest instead of attacking issues such as trying to alleviate pain due to severe illness.

Perhaps some of our elected leaders need to follow their own advice and look at what is real and what isn’t. Perhaps the overly righteous, holier than thou drug czars and vice presidents should wake up from their fantasy worlds and enter the world of television reality.

Someone needs to remind these guys that Tom and Jerry aren’t real and there are much more important issues on television to deal with.

No matter what we think about television, the fact is the majority of stuff on TV is basically fictitious, strategically placed and shown for our entertainment.

The characters aren’t real, but every once in a while even our most favorite sitcoms tackle real, pertinent, vital issues.

When this happens we all need to address these issues for their positive impact and not try to spin it into a political issue.