The spectacle of the media manipulating its wrung-out genitalia with one hand while wagging its finger at the object of its arousal with the other fully illustrates the command shallow salaciousness has over the news cycle. Once again suggesting that the defining characteristic of modern western culture is a slavering fascination with dirty sexy money, the fallen Guv'nor's exploits have caused the other departments of interest -- the election, Iraq, Iran, Al Qaeda, Osama, Halliburton, the economy, the world, Bush clearing brush -- to shut down, not unlike the Chrysler Group's cost-cutting, extended-holiday hiatus ("The economy is on the move..." assured W. He neglected to mention it's on the move to China, however.).
All humans like a good rogering now and then (discounting perhaps James Dobson or members of the Hale-Bopp cult) but to effect a course change of such extremity and obsession is both regrettable and revealing, the implication being that we will in no time soon extricate ourselves from the capitalisto-fascist mire in which we continue to slog, that we are too programmed to respond like glassy-eyed children to the candy dangled in front of our faces than to reject self-defeating fascinations that make our pee-pees tingle. Enlightenment and progress require discipline, and not the kind meted out by a dominatrix in a patent leather truss. Rejecting the juvenilia passing for cultural events, whether they be high level trysts between prostitutes and brash balding crime fighters or mass adoration/consumption of the latest overpriced, soon-to-be-obsolete super-sexy cell phone/camera/ defibrillator/MP3 player/speculum presents the greatest challenge to a nation which still harbors vague memories of its evolution of character, from its struggle for independence to the hard fought and humble wisdom that gave us the dignified and progressive legislation of the New Deal and the Great Society.
If we really believe in our relevance as a nation, if we believe in the strengths of an educated society and the importance of American values as the beacon of enlightenment in the world it once was, then the compulsion to engage in a 'round-the-clock media enabled circle jerk must be resisted.
And then, if you're really good and do what I say, Baby'll get a nice reward...
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I think the economy is about to show us we came early.
The media uses words like "many people", "most people", "the public" in ways that bludgeon us into accepting our role/identity as members of some kind of blobby mass. Intellectually we realize we have alternate identities, when we are separate, but sometimes our separateness needs more powerful support. So just think about how Howard Stern's book sold more than any other book in printed history, and how that fact so fails to represent the nature of the "us". We're all jerked around by any group amongst us who mobilize and act with solidarity, as a unit. We need a leader who is just there to build support for us in our independence, perhaps someone who can make a declaration of some kind. What am I thinking, it'll never happen.
I love a man his thesaurus.
Steve: I couldn't get beyond the title of your article. Please. Arianna, get this guy a hooker or something.
He needs some attention.
Did you also f*ck the deputy?
No, they made Steve a sandwich.
You are a good actor and a sexy guy, but why do you think a dense layer of mixed metaphors and SAT words makes for good prose?
Think of it as a hybrid, Prosestry.
"Poesy" the poetic essay. rhymes with "fantasy"
Best. Title. Ever.
Steven, as always, brilliant post...
And informative.
I hadn't heard that there's a new and improved, fancy/shmancy speculum out there???... (and apparently, neither has my ob/gyn)!... Obviously, we're not paying attention...So, where do I/they get one?!?!?
Dude, you're a very good writer. You don't need the thesauras.
Dear Dude: You're right. I should use "like" and "you know" more.
Hey, wait. It's, like, you're forgetting "I mean" and "know what I mean," you know?
The "media" is all Weapons of Mass Distraction to keep you off the REAL issues. Such as:
1. Our military is being used and worn out in a shell game they call a "War", but whose goal is actually destabilizing Iraq for as long as possible.
2. The administration could help bail out Bear Stearns, but not the millions who got screwed with teaser rate loan qualifying into purchasing overvalued RE which they could not afford.
3. The Congress passed the Bankruptcy Act which by and large reinstates indentured servitude.
4. The Congress passed legislation trashing Habeus Corpus, the right to appear before a judge contesting your detainment, and Posse Comitatus, the prohibition of a national police force directed by the federal government.
I could go on but I'm becoming nauseous.
Esprit...
Anyone who took out a teaser rate and didn't realize it was a death wish
deserves to lose their house and anything else they bet on that stupid bet.
Do you think the Guv'mint (meaning the tax payers ultimately) should bail out anyone, BIG or small?
If you do...make sure I get the first check...okay?
Yes. I do want to get laid.
If you want news from your TV set, try these:
LINK TV
DOCUMENTARY TV
SUNDANCE
FREE SPEECH TV
CSPAN
CURRENT
INDEPENDENT FILM CHANNEL
If you're looking for comedy......CNN, FOX, MSNBC.
Although lately it hasn't been very funny.
America will never be healthy emotionally as long as its citizens hold steadfast to the belief that it was ever a "beacon of enlightenment" or that its values are somehow superior to others'. Its relevance in the world became one of imperial bullying upon its very foundation. Champion the cause of liberty, but don't lay claim to it. Patriotism is for fools. Otherwise, good post.
There are so many wonderful things to do EXCEPT watch that frigging idiot box! Try some of them!
like listen to npr? all i heard last night on npr was more of this spitzer story. i tried npr this morning and got a first hand papparazi account into the life of britney spears.
the 'idiot box' bit is getting old. i agree that too much tv is a bad thing, but the whole "kill your t.v." bumpersticker crowd is somewhat hypocritical.
take for instance you- you talk about all the wonderful things to do in life, yet you are typing into a blank screen on the freakin internet. sounds like you have it all figured out.
A little something from George Carlin on this very topic. Don't watch with your kids around. It is George Carlin, after all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMqJvhmD5Yg
Thanks, Doug! I've watched this Carlin HBO special at least three times and he defined the American Miasmic Failure better than anyone could expect. How DO 60 million idiots manage to defend their votes for the slug occupying the WH?
Meanwhile, HRC and McBraindead poo-poo the notion of change in government. Whether Obama, or any candidate, could actually affect change is debatable, but to dismiss the notion, out of hand, is indicative of a voter that does not have the intellectual capacity to reach for ideas that haven't been force-fed to them. That is where we stand right now. Two candidates who say that things are on the right track...just need a bit of tweaking. Another who says, hey, let's try something different, though he hasn't identified WHAT would be different.
Weber is echoing similar sentiments...give the populace more pabulum to chew on, distract them, disorient them, get them to believe that their vote will actually mean something, even though it's only more of the same.
George Carlin!
If you like Carlin or have him work on your campaign,
Do you Hate America?
Thanks, you made my point.
dumbed-down useless news for a dumbed-down apathetic and useless public... on the whole, we get what we deserve.
the one thing one has to keep reminding his/her-self is everybody doesn't think or process information like they do - remember 59 million American voters voted for GW Bush after 4 disastrous years and dangerous policies.
YOU SAID: 'dumbed-down useless news for a dumbed-down apathetic and useless public... on the whole, we get what we deserve.'
I THINK: Well put.
I have never owned a TV even though everywhere I go there is one staring at me to watch. Sleep, shop reproduce, obey. Sleep, shop, reproduce, obey.
You left out: "Buy this product so your wee wee will be happier!"
A couple of years ago, I heard something on the radio regarding the shift in news coverage over the past several decades.
It came from a veteran news guy who's name currently escapes me.
He said that journalists used to spend weeks if not months on a story, and it would either be published or covered in the morning, or evening news and/or the Sunday newspaper.
He furthered that now we have news 24/7. Some scandal breaks through like an oncoming train riddled with largely unverified information. The truth lies in the caboose and by the time that comes around, no one is paying attention any longer.
I thought it an interesting perspective.
That's all.
I had to turn off CNN. It finally jumped the shark with all this Obama preacher nonsense.
There's a Robert Colescott painting called The Consumer Consumed, which features a woman being f*cked by her TV set. I think maybe I know how she feels.
C N N IS CRAP NOW.
Just becasue the Media is facinated does not mean we are.
The media are just the mouthpiece whores of the New World Order Doctrine (H.W.'s Freudian slip- kind let the cat out of the bag ah H?)
The media should consider where their marklet shres and advertising dollrs are actually located- they come from the masses, not from the Facist gov't.
How many are there- can they support you outlet with OUT US? Do you htink we will listen to the State run Propaganda machines, buy their 'toys' so they can further spy on US? NO.
The Telecoms would serve themselves best to TURN STATES EVIDENCE against this adminstration and all who have placed Undue influence over our Freedom of Speech ( Media's Breaad & Butter).
the Telecoms are not the ones we Really want - it's the Executive Branch.
Help US and you will be rewarded with market shares and viewers/listeners/bloggers for your Advertisers. Other wise you will only have those who have Used you for their own gains.
STOP TALKING & START SINGING!
Classy, real classy, Webber. I do not like when a columnist write things that would get my comment thrown out or me even banned. But I guess some of us are just more special than others.
What are you talking about? Did you READ his post?
How else can he get our attention? As he says, we sit "glassy eyed" and, I would say, drooling with our tongues lolling, our fingers twitching, flushed, and grunting. It's hard to break through to consciousness under those circumstances. And, of course, without some salacious reference to sex, his words are unimportant - in amurcia 2008, that is.
Did you read the post? Weber nails America's hypnagogic dream state quite well. Neal Postman had it right 25 years ago with his essay Amusing Ourselves to Death. Read that too, please after you re-read Weber's post. The decline and fall of this country is at hand, and we might get to see it once during the 24 hour news cycle on television. We peddle sex and stand slack-jawed when the rate of teen pregnancy and VD continue to rise. We are programmed to consume, consume, consume. Now our children have type II diabetes. "A capitalist will sell you the rope you use to hang him." (Remember that one?) We're there.
You write like community college freshman who is trying to impress his creative writing teacher so he can get laid. I guess you are supporting Obama.
Why "community college?" You are a bigot! Community colleges are the most egalitarian form of education in the world and a truly remarkable American entity which reflects the very basis of our political philosophy. Why must you use it as a means to attack someone? You are an elitist jerk!
And, by the way, that would be "a community college."
swoosei:
Please untangle this contradiction for me: Clinton supporters constantly abuse Obama supporters for being irrational and stupid people. They are so stupid they are like robots, or as you would say, "Obamabots." At the same time you accuse Obama supporters for being "latte drinking" etc. etc. eggheads," who are primarily in academia and have no affinity with w working class people. So here you are demeaning "community college freshman," who I take it, are not as impressive as Ivy league freshmen. Guess what, with all your superiority attitude, I bet you too try to impress your Clinton teachers. May be you also want to "get laid." Remember: "Judge yea not that you may also be judged."
Sadly, we're not choosing the top stories. I often wonder if there is any relevance to viewer preference.
Viewer preference???
It's called Voyeurism.
Want an active blog??? Put a salacious word in the title.
The economy is on the move al right....circling the toilet bowl. The 1% have made enough money off our naivty and poor judgment to live in splendor for generations....somewhere gated, and sited so they don't have to see the hordes of angry and destitute unfortunates they've sucked the life out of.
Exon, the gobbler o
Posted March 14, 2008 | 02:15 PM (EST)