Posted on 07/02/2006 9:20:23 PM PDT by Aussie Dasher
How, I wonder, did it come to pass that weve become a tabloid society? Im not just referring to those junky scandal sheets they peddle at supermarket checkout stands. Theyre just a small part of it, the tip of a sleazy iceberg. In the wake of Rep. Patrick Kennedys traffic accident, I was reminded once again what a glutton for soap opera melodramas weve become.
Kennedy, who has a long record of problems with alcohol and cocaine, fesses up to the fact that he was stoned out of his skull when he got behind the wheel of his car, and were all supposed to award him Brownie points for his honesty. The fact that hes going back to the Mayo Clinic for a second round of rehab is supposed to provide an inspiration for all the other addicts.
What Id like to see from Kennedy is his long-overdue resignation from the House of Representatives. The man is unable to control his addictions; he suffers, he claims, from depression; and he doesnt surrender his car and his drivers license even though he admits that he cant even recall the accident. Clearly, it was only a miracle that he didnt kill anyone. How does such a person consider himself qualified to vote on taxes, defense budgets, and, oh yes, the war on drugs? And how hard up must the voters of Rhode Island be that they keep electing this idiot? I know its a small state, but it cant be that small!
I realize that Im not speaking for the rest of you, but I am sick and tired of the rich and famous going on television to broadcast their sins and shortcomings while the studio audience gives them standing ovations for having the courage to go public. I save my applause for people who quietly go about trying to fix what they, themselves, broke in the first place, and people who refrain from turning bellyaching into an art form.
In the recent past, ex-basketball player Charles Barkley and professional golfer John Daly have been playing a bizarre version of Can You Top This?, boasting about the huge sums of money theyve gambled away. Why that should be of interest to anybody who doesnt own a casino is beyond me. But even I, who dont watch very much television and who never turns on the tube during daylight hours unless the Yankees are playing, have not been able to avoid seeing these two shmoes vie for the Schmuck of the Year award.
Perhaps its just that Im stone-hearted, but I dont like to see people indulging in gross displays of self-pity. If you insist on bragging, please make me envious, not nauseous.
And what is it about television that makes viewers at home think theyre the near-and-dear of those who appear on it? For instance, I was always a fan of Michael J. Fox. I thought he was a swell actor, and I was sorry to hear he was ill. But why should Americans in general, none of whom have ever met the man, be more concerned with stamping out Parkinsons than Alzheimers or Sickle Cell or leukemia just because the fellow who played Alex Keaton suffers from the one and not from the others?
Speaking of television personalities, I must confess that Ive never seen Katie Couric. I have heard her described as perky and bubbly, even effervescent, as if she were actually carbonated. As you may have guessed, anybody who can be that way early in the morning is nobody I want to be around. However, I dont care how much they pay her to be a news anchor; its not my money. Furthermore, I dont know why anybody watches the news on the three major networks. In the course of a 30-minute broadcast, after all, half the time is spent selling detergent, cars, and denture crème, and the other half is spent pitching the liberal agenda.
My problem is that when my new book comes out in September, Ill want to go on Oprahs show to plug it. But, for the life of me, I dont know what wed talk about. Im not on drugs, Im not gay, Im not a member of a cult, Im not a plagiarizer, Im not going with Angelina Jolie, and, rumors to the contrary, Im not having Tom Cruises baby!
Smack too, I believe.
There are few Kennedy's that haven't had a problem with alcohol and drugs
That family is a mess
Semper Fi
What Id like to see from Kennedy is his long-overdue resignation from the House of Representatives
You and millions of us.
What Id like to see from Kennedy is his long-overdue resignation from the House of Representatives
You and millions of us.
In a word, 'feminism'. We are a feminist culture and that's why we're also a tabloid society. The biggest 'news' in our tragically shallow country seems to be Britney Spears' latest sexcapades and Brad Pitt's latest flusey. It's a moral and intellectual shallowness that is the by-product of silly women and the culture of feminism.
Patches didn't stay very long at his 'Recovery Center'.
What a joke and cover up of facts. Modern day 'Rat tactics.
That would wipe out the mASSachusets navy of one and his lil bubby gilliganagain, and leave them open to an invasion of moral conservative representation!
Any chance of a House/Senate double?
Apparently, both father and son will have to go willingly or die in office, because voters in their respective states continue to reelect them.
THAT is one of the great mysteries of the modern world...
The Kennedy family, on balance - has been an insufferable albatross around the neck of this country....
Makes one glad the Clintoons only had one kid. Another 'dy-nasty' like the Kennedys is more than I could stomach.
What goes around comes around...right TED???
Yep, we are in a 'Soap Opera' culture. I have said for years, at least 30, that 'Soap Opera's and Talk Shows' rot your brain. They make dunces out of the constant viewers.
And still multitudes of stupids continue to vote for these insufferables.
The above applies of course only to liberal celebs hooked on illegal drugs they started taking for fun. However, conservatives addicted to legal pain killers taken for 24/7 pain should be imprisoned.
Ted Kennedy has harmed the country more than any man in history that was not President. IMO
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