Michael Jackson Oversaturation
At what point does the adulation and idolization become just a bit too much to bear? Could it be the 24 hour television news coverage? Perhaps it’s the print media overzealously picking the bones of the celeb-du jour clean? Or maybe it’s when you want to listen to the radio but the AM/FM stations are simulcasting the Michael Jackson memorial, then rebroadcasting them in repeat? Whatever that tipping point it, I think we’ve surpassed it long ago and are committed to desperately hanging on to this tumbling, frenzied, thrashing beast we call “news” until we crash head first on to the jagged rocks below.
If the media would quit feeling each other up for just one minute and dedicate a tenth of the energy they’ve spent on covering the Michael Jackson circus towards useful news about, oh…say the financial mess our nation is in, and what exactly is each of our elected officials doing to resolve it. I mean, camp out at their homes, stalk them into their offices, shout out towards the heavens, press the issue, and don’t back down from these dogs who should be doing the will of the people.
Let’s turn this car around and start focusing in on what’s really important. It’s time to ask the tough questions and get people involved. Question the government. Question special interests. Question pork/pet projects. Question the illegal issue. Question the tax issue. Question the bailouts. Question why the government hemmed and hawed when the banks wanted to pay the money back. Question the partisanship. Question why we’re even paying politicians if they can’t do their damned jobs. I want to see ABC / CBS / NBC / TMZ / Cable news and television shows asking why we can’t get our collective heads on straight, and why we can’t shake ourselves out of this financial mess.
If it were up to me, I’d throw open all the books and have independent analysis of the numbers run. Post everything on the Web. Find out exactly where the money is going, and what we’re getting for it in return. I want to know how much they spent on coffee, pencils, and office parties. I want to see the receipts, and if the receipts are missing, I want to know exactly why they’re missing, and whose job was it to save them? Then I want to ask that person who their boss is, and I’ll want to then question that person about said receipts. I want to treat the government in the same spirit that the IRS treats us. Then, have each and every one of these jackals responsible for this mess answer to the American public. No spin. Just the truth.
…Forgive me if I sound upset, but I think our whole system is shot to hell and something needs to be done about it. We’ve become so distracted from the truth that we’ll swallow anything the media dishes out with no questions asked.
I think it’s time that we woke up from our celebrity-induced stupor. No more distractions. We have work to do.
Completely agree. I stopped myself from posting about it as I couldn’t bring myself to think about the man anymore. I stopped watching the news a few days ago. I’m sure this morning there will be a play by play of the funeral on all the news programs. Ugh!
We plebs do not care about inequality, evil, injustice, or endemic political corruption. Thinking about such things would require us to put on our serious face and that is no fun. Much more fun to worship flaky celebrities. The press is just catering to our demand for entertainment by dangling a shiny story in front of us until we tire of it. There will be another tinsel fabrication to talk about tomorrow. Society is being continually dumbed down and best you can do is raise your kids to be thinkers.
Jen / Zeta: Thank you! For a minute there I feared I was the only one harboring such thoughts…