Marianne Paskowski

If you live in the Boston DMA, you’ll be a very happy camper at 4 p.m. today. That’s when the revered Boston Red Sox will decide whether they will trade off their All-Star outfielder Manny Ramirez.

Beantowners have been inundated the past 24 hours with every stupid detail of this potential deal and will breathe a collective sigh of relief when it’s over. If you relied on Boston media, you would have no idea that Congress did not pass an offshore drilling bill or that the war in Iraq is still raging.

In a Cape Cod Times online poll today, 73.6% said get rid of the bum. Ramirez, who earns $20 million, is one of the reasons it’s impossible to get a ticket to Fenway Park.

Or maybe, just maybe, they’re getting as bored as I am with this story. With TV and print news departments shrinking, couldn’t they make better use of the reporters they still employ?

I think so.

I used to yawn when I heard people carp about how the media fawned over Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and ignored his Republican opponent, John McCain.

That was until today, when I read a New York Times editorial that took President George W. Bush to the woodshed for remaining silent about China’s human rights policies with the Olympics just two weeks away.

That’s fair—Bush has said absolutely nothing about the subject and he is attending the Opening Ceremonies.

But where is the dialogue in the media about Obama spending $5 million on advertising during the Olympics on NBC? The conversation has focused on his shift from regional swing-state spending to his national buy.

Big deal. I’d like to hear what people have to say about Obama’s tacit approval of China’s policies by spending ad dollars in the controversial Games hosted by China and airing on NBC.

Anyone else have a problem with this?

Now it’s official: Jay Leno’s last “Tonight Show” broadcast is May 29 and Conan O’Brien will inherit the throne.

It’s been widely reported that Leno will land his own show on ABC, and if that’s the case, count on me to be in the audience.

Frankly, I just can’t understand why NBC would let Leno go, given that his show consistently wins the time period. Personally, I think the switch is all about NBC trying to lure younger demos, hence O’Brien.

To me, O’Brien is an acquired taste who just doesn’t appeal to my palate at all. Leno is part of my evening ritual. He makes for a better night’s sleep than O’Brien, whom I find sophomoric.

So if Leno goes to ABC, will you be following him there, like me?

According to an Associated Press article today, 89% of the consumers who are exposed to some 20,000 TV screens at gas stations across the country say they are willing to buy the products being hawked.

PumpTop TV, Gas Station TV and FuelCast are three independent outfits that provide programming ranging from NBC and ABC content to sports scores, news and weather forecasts. Gas stations rent the screens and, in turn, hawk products ranging from car washes to candy bars.

Clearly I’m out of sync with the public here. I would rather see gas stations lower the price of gas than rent TV sets that carry heavy rotations of 15-second spots. Buying gas is already an expensive, unpleasant chore. Who needs to be captive to a bunch of commercials, when you can’t even change the channel or sound level?

And what if the jerk ahead of you gets mesmerized by some numb-nuts sports report? I can hear the horns blowing already as time spent at the station is actually lengthened.

So has anyone out there been to one of the gas stations with TVs?

Feel free to rant, or tell me that I’m a lone voice in this choir.

It’s been about a week since supposed Barack Obama supporter Jesse Jackson apologized on the Fox News Channel about earlier “crude” remarks he had made about the presidential contender.

I have to ask, with friends like this who needs enemies? Jackson, speaking with another guest before his segment appeared, did not realize his microphone was on and accused Obama of “talking down to black people.”

If that weren’t bad enough, right before showtime the mic picked up Jackson saying, “I want to cut his nuts off.”

A week later, Obama supporters are still fuming over Jackson’s comments and wondering if he is really helping or hurting Obama’s chances of winning.

Your two cents?

Here’s one for the books. E! News reports that former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s call girl might land on cable with her own TV show about dating.

Apparently call girl Ashley Dupre, according to published reports, is working on a project with Handprint Entertainment, the folks who work with Nicole Richie and Pamela Anderson.

So which cable network will stoop this low? I’m sure the show will get great ratings if it comes to pass. It’s like watching a car accident on the other side of the road.

But I can’t see this happening at all. Sure, the kid needs a job, but prostitution is a crime in New York, where she was busted, so what cable network would want the bad ink?

And what does she know about real dating? Most people don’t get paid to go on a date, at least in my circle of friends.

Earlier this week several cast members from “Army Wives,” attended a red carpet event at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

They were there—joined by real army wives and military personnel—to screen the upcoming July 6 episode “The Hero Returns,” and to launch a postcard drive that will deliver moral support to military families.

For me, “Army Wives’ is appointment television, but it’s more than that: It’s public service at its best. And the timing couldn’t be better given the Independence Holiday weekend.

Regardless of how you feel about the war, let’s not forget the troops who are fighting to preserve our freedoms. I salute Lifetime for its important public service work here.

John Malone, Liberty Media’s 67-year-old CEO, made a rare appearance on CNBC to discuss the future of his hydra-headed empire.

Any reporter who covers this company is always baffled by the more than half a dozen tracking stocks that comprise this empire. Apparently investors are confused, too, as the stock continues to languish.

Malone said a “simple company is best,” and that the transition is already under way, but not complete, to create a new, less confusing model, providing the tax ramifications are positive.

And there’s the rub: Malone hates to pay taxes, hence the baffling structure of Liberty today.

Anyone have any ideas for Malone here?

If he has them, he kept them close to the vest today.