Friday, June 29, 2007

America needs me

I gave up on this blogging thing a while back because I didn't feel comfortable expressing strong opinions about the things I discussed. It's kinda not my thing. Felt like I was doing it more to emulate some of my blogger and reporter heroes and stroke my own ego than to provide real analysis on current events.

But now, I feel drawn back into this amorphous universe we call the blogosphere because I am genuinely concerned about the level of discourse to which we have fallen. Not that this is anything new. I am reminded of this old Onion story that was posted not long after 9/11. Back then, it seemed as though we might be cured of our deep fixation on the frivolous. But it didn't take long for us to begin caring about stupid bullshit again. Indeed, it's not hard to imagine the uncredited writer drafting that hilarious but poignant piece while news of so-and-so's break up/stint in rehab/fashion atrocity appears on the crawlers unleashed into perpetual motion by the cable news networks mere moments after American Airlines Flight 11 hit the north tower of the World Trade Center.

Okay...I'm only going to say this once. Listen carefully.

THIS PARIS HILTON SHIT IS NOT WORTHY OF OUR ATTENTION.

Whew. Just need to...catch...my breath.

Back to the point I'm trying to make. Does anyone realize there's a war going on? Anyone thinking about how serious the implications of this war's final result will be in terms of our nation's security and diplomatic power? The mounting casualties?

If you aren't, perhaps it's because the whole thing's being minimized by sensationalism.

I'll admit that I am often guilty of taking insufficient interest in matters related to the conflict. I am a product of the era of pop culture saturation. I am in no place to judge others for what piques their interest. This blog will rarely take on such heavy matters. My next post will likely feature a couple of hit-or-miss jokes about whatever's-in-the-news or some not-so-trenchant analysis of a Roxy Music album from the early 70s.

But I'm just some guy with a laptop. Unlike the aforementioned cable news networks, my views and opinions do not influence millions upon millions of Americans. If they did...well, I guess that would be kind of cool.

I'll conclude this post by embedding the video that compelled me to write it. Mika Brzezinski, an anchor for MSNBC (and daughter of Zbigniew Brzezinski), takes a shockingly bold stand for what she believes is right. This could very well have been staged, but let's just assume it's legit for now, shall we?


No comments: