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Posted on 06/13/2002 7:25:11 AM PDT by Jean S
Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio) was so annoyed that Kevin Richardson, a member of the teeny-bopper singing group Backstreet Boys, was invited to testify before a Senate Environment and Public Works subcommittee that he boycotted the hearing.
Not knowing at lot about Richardson myself, I turned to the Web to learn more about him and his areas of expertise. Initially, I tried the official site of the Backstreet Boys fan club, but you need to be a member and have a password to use the site, and I wasn't ready to go that far, even for this column.
So I looked at the Web site of Just Within Reach, a foundation Richardson started which seeks "to provide environmental education and promote personal responsibility and accountability with regard to the health of the Earth." The site says that the singer is "championing a new environmental movement for his generation."
"Whether you live on a dairy farm or in the middle of a big city, you are always surrounded by nature," notes JWR's site. Deep. Real deep.
There's plenty of other stuff on the site about the environment, but, dare I say it, it's rather boring. I looked for information about Kevin's education but couldn't find anything. Then, I figured I'd check out a few of his fans' Web sites to see what they say about his environmental views.
I found out that Richardson was born on Oct. 3, 1971, in Lexington, Ky. His hair is dark brown. His eyes are a bluish-green.
Kevin, a Libra, has a number of nicknames, including: Kev, Kevy-Kev, Mr. Body Beautiful, Pumpkin, Boo and Train. His favorite colors are blue, black and purple.
One site, "It's Gotta Be Kev!" says that Kevin's favorite actor and actress are Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. I wonder if Kevin is upset that they've broken up.
You'll be interested to know that Kevin's cat is named Quincy, that he says his worst habit is sleeping late, and that his favorite cologne is Paco.
There seems to be a disagreement about Kevin's favorite food. "Maria's Cool Kevin Richardson" site says that he likes "pasta, veggies and hot, hot, hot chicken wings." But "It's Gotta Be Kev!" says he prefers "Mexican, Oriental, Peanut Butter." Somebody is way off base here, though I suppose that "pasta" could be a reference to Thai noodles rather than Italian fare.
I didn't see much talk about Kevin's commitment to the environmental movement, but virtually all of the fan sites mention Kevin's body. Chicks apparently think he's hot. I mean really, really hot.
Kevin's fans actually are interested in what he thinks and says, so most of them post a list of his favorite quotes. Such as: "When you are on the road it's difficult to keep up with the laundry so you find yourself without a clean pair of underpants. You have no choice but to pop back on yesterday's pair. They tend to be snug, though, which is lucky." Thanks, Kevin, for sharing. Please include that in your next Congressional testimony.
Interestingly, Kevin isn't the only Backstreet Boy who has a mission. Nick Carter has something called the "Oceans Campaign," which is a "division" of JWR.
Checking out "Nick Carter's Oceans Campaign" Web page, I found a statement of the organization's mission: "Nick plans to learn about different ocean-based issues and to use his position as a well-known entertainer to speak out and gain attention for those issues so more people become aware and take action." I can't wait.
I'm certainly expecting Nick to get a call from Congress to testify about the effect of Navy sonar on marine mammals, which Nick describes as a current issue. By the way, Nick's nicknames include "Mr. Hyper Man," "Chaos" and "Slam." He apparently was born in the same hospital as the late Lucille Ball.
I know that I'm more celebrity-phobic than the rest of the world. I really don't get excited about seeing Bo Derek or Martin Sheen, and I wouldn't get out of bed two minutes early to hear about Paul McCartney's wedding.
I don't care at all what Charlton Heston has to say about guns or Rosie O'Donnell has to say about gay rights. But at least they're speaking from some personal knowledge with their issues, so I'm willing to cut them a break.
My own view is this: Celebrities don't have any particular standing on matters of public policy. If they have a very personal connection to an issue, they can help focus attention on it, but that's about it. I don't think their public-policy views should carry any more weight than those of anyone else who isn't an expert.
My advice to subcommittee Chairman Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.): Make a list of the people with technical knowledge of the environment or mountaintop removal or coal sludge - and I'm willing to bet Kevin Richardson ranks somewhere behind 30,000 or 40,000 people - and call them first, before Mr. Body Beautiful.
Just one more thing. Kevy-Kev's favorite country is Italy. Don't tell Joe Biden.
What? And get all those scientists who will bore us with empirical data instead of sharing their feelings about the cosmos?
In all seriousness, these idiots' don't need their sense of self-importance further exaggerated... "teen idol" should never translate to "environmental expert."
Create a charity that you head...
I hope from the author's closing statements that he doesn't think that a person can't contribute just because he has celebrity (Ronald Reagan left the entertainment world for politics). By and large Charleton Heston has been absent from Hollywood productions but he does serve as the President of the NRA. But I agree that these Senate hearings that have muppets testifying make a mockery of our legislative branch.
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Case in point... Michael J. Fox testifying about stem cell research and Parkinson's Disease. Yes, he has personal experience... but he's a Canadian citizen. He is not a member of anyone's constituency, so why should he be given a voice before Congress?
He was a Canadian citizen and doing a popular MTV show. He went to California to be diagnosed for testicular cancer (which was detected). He had the surgery and presented the information to his audience. He's said that if he had to wait to be diagnosed in Canada, it could have been too late.
Get that man up there to testify against national health care (and the proposal to end private medical practice). Oh Canada has a wonderful system, indeed! < /sarcasm >
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