I couldn’t get to sleep last night and found myself aimlessly flipping channels. I briefly paused on Jay Leno. I’ve never really been a fan. He’s never been that funny and has only become less so through the years. I’m more of a Charlie Rose guy.
Leno’s headliners were Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries. Who the hell is Kris Humphries? He’s apparently a mediocre pro basketball player. He doesn’t play for the Hawks so I have no idea. He’s irrelevant.
Why I stopped on this I can’t say. It’s like rubbernecking at a crash on the freeway I guess – you know there is nothing to gain but you still have to look. Kim Kardashian is possibly the most vapid, dimwitted human alive. From what I can tell she possesses no discernible talent other than being attractive. And what’s with that monotone voice? I shamefully admit (through no fault of my own) I’ve kept up with the Kardashians over the last few years. About all I’ve learned from that program is that Kim isn’t the hottest one – her sister Kourtney is (and with a normal sized ass, no less!) But her colorless speech is even worse than her sister. Watching Kourtney Kardashian speak is like watching a hot, retarded robot attempt to verbalize in public for the first time. I just don’t understand it. Why are Americans so infatuated with this family? There is no ‘there’ there.
Watching this display on Leno I was struck with this realization: This is why the world hates Americans!
When did this happen? When did this country become so entranced with all things celebrity? Especially celebrities who are famous on no perceptible grounds? “Reality” television? If Toddlers and Tiaras is reality, somebody give me a bus pass to Crazy Town, the ship may already be lost. I can’t think of anything you can do with your time less productive than viewing this crap. Watching Jersey Shore actually sucks knowledge out of your brain. You become dumber with every second you are tuned in.
When did Americans begin to devalue intellect? Has this country become so depressed in our collective actual reality that all we can do is stare into the glistening abyss of television and film? Granted, there are people in my neighborhood, and yours as well, that are going through some scary shit right now. The economy is hanging on by a thread. Wall Street can’t string together (2) consecutive sessions of positive growth. The in-fighting and division and political posturing in Washington has reached epic levels. We are still sending our young men to fight and die in a war no one can fully explain or justify. These are somber times. So grim though that we have to look away?
Certainly we need a break from the every day grind. And I am not suggesting that we all get serious and only talk about the “issues” all the time. But the crap that passes for entertainment is troubling to me. I’ve often thought, when scrolling through 372 channels, what a waste of time and money this is. More times than not, I end up on PBS anyway.
Does anyone read? Or talk? When is the last time you had a conversation with someone about literature? Or art? Or even a conversation about politics? Are these dialogues a thing of the past? My boy Chuck and I used to have long conversations on Wash Street about this stuff. Music, art, architecture, history – this is important stuff. I miss that. Is what I long for an antiquated ideal?
Have you ever had an honest conversation with someone who disagreed with you politically? It pumps the blood and reminds you that you and your opinions are just as important as anyone else’s. Being passionate and pounding your chest in defense of your belief is one of the most vital acts a human can perform. But is it asking too much for everyone to stop yelling and start looking at the problem together?
My Republican friends like to bash our president and blame him for all that is wrong with this country. I bashed their guy too. I get it – it’s what we do. I voted for Barrack and the difference is that I do acknowledge that in many respects he shat his pants as a leader. He inherited a bad deal and in many ways made it worse. Casting dispersion on any single person or group doesn’t help though, does it? It’s like honking your horn in traffic – it might make you feel better, but it does little to change the situation.
He's probably not the answer in 2012, but the really terrifying question is this – who is?
I’ve seen the Republican debates. That cast of characters, working all together hand-in-hand, couldn’t organize a successful trip to the bathroom much less devise an executable plan to abate another financial collapse and provide a solid base for a true sustainable economy. Take no offense reds, if you are paying attention you have to agree. Michelle Bachmann? Speaking of freaking mind-controlled robots! Herman Cain? Really? Rick Perry? Romney? Ron Paul? Is that guy even still alive?
Not that the Dems are going to trot out much better. Talk about a fractured party. There will certainly be a show at the national convention in Charlotte but in the end they will hitch their wagon to the strongest horse and that is always the incumbent. I drank the Kool-Aid once (and I still have fingers crossed that it doesn’t end like Jonestown). I don’t think I would vote the same again. If not O then who? I’ve wasted more than (1) vote on Ralph Nader (and I do still believe that he could have done the work if elected – however impossible that was). I was younger then. It’s going to be more important this time around. The sad point is that neither party has a viable candidate.
Henry Rollins once said that he wished for a president that he could love in the same way that he loved Al Green. What’s better than Al Green, right? I don’t think that guy is out there. And I think it’s bigger than the president or party affiliation now anyway. We all need to get on the same page or this mess only gets worse.
Hey, don’t look to me for answers; I certainly do not have any. Right now, I’m thinking about getting in the truck and riding around the neighborhood blaring Tupac just for the helluva it.
As I see America, our biggest problem is apathy. I’m not sure that most of us even care. We all like to say that we love America, and we all undoubtedly do. But few of us are willing to make the sacrifices it does in fact still take to be American. It is much easier (and I’m as guilty as you) to retreat to the safety of our home and block out the troubles of the world as best we can. That attitude has gotten this country nowhere in my opinion.
Do you know who the best president in U.S. history is? Lincoln? No. Jefferson? Not even close. Reagan? Hell no! The best president ever was Andrew Shepherd. Remember him? If you’re not inspired (or at least agitated) by this speech you, my friend, are un-inspirable. That’s a president I could love in the same way that I love Al Green. The problem with that, of course is that he is a Hollywood fabrication. (For the record, I too am a card-carrying member of the ACLU.)
I’m not sure how a rant on pop-culture devolved into a discussion of American politics. I swear I don’t know where the thoughts that populate my overcrowded housing project of a brain come from. Maybe that proves that I am in fact crazy. Either way, I feel much better having gotten all of this out of my head.
Hunter S. Thompson wrote, “I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me.”
If the shoe fits, right?
Watching this display on Leno I was struck with this realization: This is why the world hates Americans!
When did this happen? When did this country become so entranced with all things celebrity? Especially celebrities who are famous on no perceptible grounds? “Reality” television? If Toddlers and Tiaras is reality, somebody give me a bus pass to Crazy Town, the ship may already be lost. I can’t think of anything you can do with your time less productive than viewing this crap. Watching Jersey Shore actually sucks knowledge out of your brain. You become dumber with every second you are tuned in.
When did Americans begin to devalue intellect? Has this country become so depressed in our collective actual reality that all we can do is stare into the glistening abyss of television and film? Granted, there are people in my neighborhood, and yours as well, that are going through some scary shit right now. The economy is hanging on by a thread. Wall Street can’t string together (2) consecutive sessions of positive growth. The in-fighting and division and political posturing in Washington has reached epic levels. We are still sending our young men to fight and die in a war no one can fully explain or justify. These are somber times. So grim though that we have to look away?
Certainly we need a break from the every day grind. And I am not suggesting that we all get serious and only talk about the “issues” all the time. But the crap that passes for entertainment is troubling to me. I’ve often thought, when scrolling through 372 channels, what a waste of time and money this is. More times than not, I end up on PBS anyway.
Does anyone read? Or talk? When is the last time you had a conversation with someone about literature? Or art? Or even a conversation about politics? Are these dialogues a thing of the past? My boy Chuck and I used to have long conversations on Wash Street about this stuff. Music, art, architecture, history – this is important stuff. I miss that. Is what I long for an antiquated ideal?
Have you ever had an honest conversation with someone who disagreed with you politically? It pumps the blood and reminds you that you and your opinions are just as important as anyone else’s. Being passionate and pounding your chest in defense of your belief is one of the most vital acts a human can perform. But is it asking too much for everyone to stop yelling and start looking at the problem together?
My Republican friends like to bash our president and blame him for all that is wrong with this country. I bashed their guy too. I get it – it’s what we do. I voted for Barrack and the difference is that I do acknowledge that in many respects he shat his pants as a leader. He inherited a bad deal and in many ways made it worse. Casting dispersion on any single person or group doesn’t help though, does it? It’s like honking your horn in traffic – it might make you feel better, but it does little to change the situation.
He's probably not the answer in 2012, but the really terrifying question is this – who is?
I’ve seen the Republican debates. That cast of characters, working all together hand-in-hand, couldn’t organize a successful trip to the bathroom much less devise an executable plan to abate another financial collapse and provide a solid base for a true sustainable economy. Take no offense reds, if you are paying attention you have to agree. Michelle Bachmann? Speaking of freaking mind-controlled robots! Herman Cain? Really? Rick Perry? Romney? Ron Paul? Is that guy even still alive?
Not that the Dems are going to trot out much better. Talk about a fractured party. There will certainly be a show at the national convention in Charlotte but in the end they will hitch their wagon to the strongest horse and that is always the incumbent. I drank the Kool-Aid once (and I still have fingers crossed that it doesn’t end like Jonestown). I don’t think I would vote the same again. If not O then who? I’ve wasted more than (1) vote on Ralph Nader (and I do still believe that he could have done the work if elected – however impossible that was). I was younger then. It’s going to be more important this time around. The sad point is that neither party has a viable candidate.
Henry Rollins once said that he wished for a president that he could love in the same way that he loved Al Green. What’s better than Al Green, right? I don’t think that guy is out there. And I think it’s bigger than the president or party affiliation now anyway. We all need to get on the same page or this mess only gets worse.
Hey, don’t look to me for answers; I certainly do not have any. Right now, I’m thinking about getting in the truck and riding around the neighborhood blaring Tupac just for the helluva it.
As I see America, our biggest problem is apathy. I’m not sure that most of us even care. We all like to say that we love America, and we all undoubtedly do. But few of us are willing to make the sacrifices it does in fact still take to be American. It is much easier (and I’m as guilty as you) to retreat to the safety of our home and block out the troubles of the world as best we can. That attitude has gotten this country nowhere in my opinion.
Do you know who the best president in U.S. history is? Lincoln? No. Jefferson? Not even close. Reagan? Hell no! The best president ever was Andrew Shepherd. Remember him? If you’re not inspired (or at least agitated) by this speech you, my friend, are un-inspirable. That’s a president I could love in the same way that I love Al Green. The problem with that, of course is that he is a Hollywood fabrication. (For the record, I too am a card-carrying member of the ACLU.)
I’m not sure how a rant on pop-culture devolved into a discussion of American politics. I swear I don’t know where the thoughts that populate my overcrowded housing project of a brain come from. Maybe that proves that I am in fact crazy. Either way, I feel much better having gotten all of this out of my head.
Hunter S. Thompson wrote, “I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me.”
If the shoe fits, right?
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