There is a way celebrities and the news can help Democrats. Democrats have done a pathetic job of framing important issues as they peak in the news. There is a possible unique solution to their problem. Given continuing economic struggles, most Americans often feel high levels of stress. This creates a reluctance to engage in depressing complicated political issues which take time energy and emotion that many feel they cannot afford. On the other hand there is also a strong desire to seek relief from this stress. An often used escape from this is movie and TV entertainment. Part of their escape is the obvious fascination with the celebrities of movie and TV. Everyone is drawn to the charisma of large personalities. The Democrats can use this fascination to get their messages heard. So how about creating a nightly news program where the talking heads are a revolving group of these entertainment stars?
It is crucial to frame a political message early in the game. This requires grabbing the public's attention then making it easy to understand. We are all creatures of habit. If new news gathering habits can be created, the Democrats would then have a fighting chance to get there. Let's help everyone -- not just the rich -- get messages across to the masses. If you are a consumer of news and your options include getting the news from the networks you typically watch versus getting the same news from one of your favorite celebrities, the odds are good you will give the celebrities a shot. Once they get a pleasant taste of getting the news from well-liked, charismatic celebrities, they also might go a little further and listen to more in depth news pieces from celebrities like you might see from MSNBC. If that happens the combining of celebrities and the news will be like striking gold for the Democrats.
Many celebrities seek ways to use their good fortune to make our world better. Perhaps it is time to offer them the opportunity to bring a greater awareness to Americans of important yet at times boring issues by being the talking head that delivers the news. A big reason fake news shows like The Daily Show are so popular is the laughs are the sugar that make the bitter medicine of being informed about bummer political issues go down a lot easier. Similarly, the charisma of celebrities and subsequent fascination and empathy people feel with them could also make the process of being an informed citizen easier to take. If this delivery method had been used much earlier perhaps the majority of the electorate would have bought into the extreme dangers of climate change. This could have enabled the government of the second largest polluter in the world to take measures to have avoided many eco-disasters and all the un-pleasantry that has gone with them. I suspect more than a few celebrities would have bought into contributing some of their time if they believed their efforts could have avoided the global breakdown of our weather. These days Mother Nature is all too often an angry woman. Perhaps the goodhearted women and men of the entertainment world could have avoided inflaming her anger.
The wealthy Democrats who have given up on building an information-spreading infrastructure to compete with the right-wing noise machine should consider this possibility. Supposedly, Jack Nicholson has retired from acting because he has problems memorizing lines. However, the odds are good he can still read from a teleprompter while also being his typical charming intense self. There always seems to be countless talented actresses of all ages who cant find good roles in Hollywood, hey gals give this a try. Harrison Ford referring to how the older he gets the less roles there are for him to play was quoted saying, "I still want to be useful." Hans Solo here is a way.
Mark Ruffalo is on a mission to stop fracking. Maybe if he took a little time delivering the news he could also convince some folks about the extreme dangers of fracking. It is possible that celebrities delivering the news could catch the attention of star gazers everywhere just long enough to inform them about some hidden boring yet vital matter. Democrats have a seemingly unfixable problem. Eastern mystics say for every disease there is a cure. Of course these cures may have to be found in some plant hidden away in a tropical jungle. Similarly, the right mix of creativity, celebrity and cooperation might be the Democrats' magic bullet. For example, a single celebrity or celebrity duo could be on for a week or two delivering the nightly news while mixing in a little celebrity chatter to make the bummer news more palatable. Maybe team up a celebrity with a Greg Palast, Michael Tomasky, Arianna Huffington, Joan Walsh, Paul Krugman, Robert Reich, James Risen, and others who have insights we all need to hear about. That might lead to some truly fascinating chatter. Certain news is more important to certain age groups. Maybe use celebrities of similar age to deliver news that is most relevant to the specific celebrities age group. Being in the eye of the public can be the best marketing for an actor.
As actors get older there are less roles for them to play. Perhaps a way to get the attention of some of the older viewers that gravitate to Fox News is have some older celebrities giving them very important sides to an issue that Fox News buries or lies about. Fox News, as do all right-wing propaganda tools, uses two notes -- greed and fear to manipulate people. This method is particularly effective with the elderly. They take legit fears and turn them into delusional paranoia. The fear of Ebola breaking into an epidemic is a prime example of this. Prying on the fears of the elderly or any weak-minded person in this manner is criminal and needs an effective counterpunch.
An existing network like Free Speech TV would be a great testing ground for this project. If the project takes off then the famous actors that are not working much due to lack of opportunity could find a new revenue source. Depending on how many are interested and how often they would be available, it seems reasonable to have a celebrity or celebrity duo have stints of one or two weeks at a time -- maybe even a month. Hey Hollywood, what do think about this?