Often people think journalists are jaded and seldomnly surprised by the news, no matter how strange or how tragic. For the most part, that’s a false assumption. We can also be stunned at the daily circus that has become modern life. Just a few examples make us wonder: What in the world is wrong with people?

About 100 days before the election Mitt Romney goes to England, Poland and Israel, bumbling his way through three countries, with his foot in his mouth. Meanwhile Michelle Obama shows up at Buckingham Palace wearing a $6,600, shirt that could easily support a family of four for a month. And Ann Romney gets grief for a $990 T-shirt? Actually both women should probably be put on a budget.

And the icing on the cake? One of Romney’s aides swearing at a reporter in Warsaw.

Michael Jackson’s family’s feud on Twitter and TV has set a new low for familiar love and the matriarch of the family seems strangely quiet. This makes you long for Tyler Perry’s Madea to get in there and knock some heads together.

A young journalist at The New Yorker, Jonah Lehrer, resigned recently after being exposed for fabricating quotes from Bob Dylan in his best-selling book, “Imagine: How Creativity Works.” Lehrer made up quotes from a living person — think about the audacity of that. Another promising career goes up in smoke.

In an interview with CNN’s Piers Morgan Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps admitted that his bong photo was a mistake. How insightful, too little, too late?

A so-called “Plain Jane Bandit” allegedly has completed five bank robberies and two attempts this month in Southern California. Female bank robbers are rare and this one has been captured on surveillance video, making no attempt whatsoever to disguise herself. Witnesses have been close enough to her to describe her in great detail.

Not to be outdone, a 36-year-old woman in Ohio was arrested after repeatedly trying to break into a jail. Although reports said she was intoxicated, it’s still hard to fathom what she could have been thinking.

And last but not least, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is back in the news. Not satisfied with restricting the size of soft drinks, this time the nanny/mayor wants to make sure new mothers breast feed. Starting next month new NYC moms will have to get a lecture if they request formula for their infants in the city’s hospitals.

All this leads us to ask: “What the heck is wrong with people?”

We’ve probably missed some recent examples, so add yours in the comments area below. – Pula Davis, The Gazette; Friend Pula on Facebook, follow on Twitter, @puladavis.