Britney Hits Rock Bottom

I put the above headline up to highlite how the media in the United States is taking a giant shit on the psyche and intellect of the American People.

I put the art my daughter created to the left to show that there is actual hope for the future of our children and our children's children.

Every major newswire is carrying info on possibly the most unimportant person in the world; far less important than any bottom caste street sweeper in India or poor family in Appalachia. Both of the aforementioned groups are far more important to me than anything Britney Spears or Paris Hilton does or says. And as much as I like Rosie (I liked her better as a comic than a talkshow host), I absolutely do not want my inbox or prime time news filled up with gibberish about a spat.

Let's call this for what it is: a distraction, an affront to our basic sensibilities. For many years news organizations have dabbled in entertainment. I do remember Walter Cronkite and Mike Wallace actually attacking issues that mattered. So what happened? And what happened to Mike's son at Fox News? Didn't he take him aside and have the "big boy" talk with him (as in big boys don't work at Fox News)? Distractions abound and real newspeople would see them purely for what they are. Carnage and grist are to keep the peasants busy while the aristocratic Neocons have dinner at their club. Britney, Elizabeth and Paris are what I lovingly refer to as "irritainment". Irritation and entertainment now intermingle in a wondeful collage of vomit.

War for oil is also a distraction. The Democrats rolling over on a war spending bill is a distraction. Why?

Because it turns our attention away from important problems that have no easy answers. Schools, Healthcare, Social Security, Infrastructure and finding long term solutions to stop energy independence and the like are all more important than Iraq, Iran and all the oil put together.

If you want to read what the war is REALLY about, Greg Palast paints the picture better than anyone in Armed Madhouse. For you Republicans out there that actually have the balls to read and think rather than speak, go to Amazon or B&N and pick up Greg's book. He's one of the top five investigative journalist of the 21st Century and he has the guts to tell it like it is in the tradition of writers and journalists that can think and report while chewing gum and walking all at once. It's $9 used on Amazon. And for Pete's sake, please stop telling me Bush is a leader that has just made some "bad choices". His choices are carefully planned and are designed to benefit a few and take from many.

Lest we also forget, our media, the same one's hyping Britney's latest revelation are also treating 76% of America as a fringe group. CNN has labeled the 76% "The Antiwar Crowd". Are they kidding? One of my colleagues told me she only watches Fox news for a half hour in the morning and she gleans all of the news she needs to know about the world from her half hour exposure. She's not stupid, she is kind and decent and they are very good marketers. Check out the scoriating articles Brit Hume has penned lately against good people like Nancy Pelosi and Cindy Sheehan.

Distractions. Distractions from our loss of civil liberties, diversions from our hard questions about why our government is operating like a poorly run business. Government is not about business or to make money; it's about providing for the common good of the people.

Speaking of common good and the little pearl of art shown up above, lawmakers across the land are considering cutting arts programs. Art can be a distraction, typically one that expands minds; that's not good for the other Britney's out there looking to move people away from the real questions.

As asked before by ink slingers that can write much better than I can; is this really for the common good?


M