Thread: Keeping up with the Joneses, Lohans, Simpsons, Hiltons...

Kate Ramunni, Editor September 27, 2007


The Internet is an amazing thing - probably the greatest invention in my lifetime. All I need to literally connect with the world is a computer and an Internet service provider. And e-mail makes communicating with anyone around the globe as simple as a few strokes on the keyboard.

Maybe it's a bit too simple, as evidenced by the never-ending messages I get from people I don't know, pushing products in which I have no interest.

With an e-mail account such as the one set up for the Huntington Herald, that amount of junk e-mail - known as spam - multiplies immensely.

However, occasionally a piece of spam will catch my eye, as one did last week. The subject line declared: "O.J. Simpson and Lindsay Lohan Weigh in on today's Amnesty Vote."

My curiosity got the best of me. What could that pair have to say about such a weighty subject? I had to open the e-mail and find out.


Turns out, they had nothing to say about the amnesty vote - at least, not in this particular e-mail.

I read the missive from William Gheen of the Americans for Legal Immigration Political Action Committee: "As the US Senate prepares to vote on the 'Bad' Dream Act Amnesty amendment offered by Senator [Richard J.] Durbin, which would grant 4 million illegal aliens Amnesty and in-state tuition for college, the main stream media (Fox, CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, NBC) are focused on more important matters dealing with O.J. Simpson, Lindsay Lohan, and Brittany Spears."

As a member of the media, I was instantly interested.

Gheen continued: "We are going to start contacting celebrities about the important issues that can completely alter American politics and the fabric of this nation.

Perhaps that way, we can get the media to actually warn people when the Senate is going to vote on a massive amnesty that a majority of Americans oppose."

The e-mail, which was obviously written tongue-in-cheek, reports on "interviews" with the celebrities.

"Most of the US Senate is white," Simpson is reported to have said from an interview supposedly conducted from his jail cell, where he was being held last week on assault and kidnapping charges. He has since been released on bail.

"That is why they can get away with murder, as a matter of speaking, while I take all the heat," Simpson reportedly complained. "What happened in that hotel room is much more important news than a Senate Amnesty vote because I'm O.J. Simpson!"



If there were any questions about the context of that "interview," the following statement answered them: "This press release is a parody intended to bring attention to how the corporate media in America is distracting the public with garbage while ignoring important news about illegal immigration that is vital to the health of the nation."

Distraction has become an art. While news of the Iraq War gets buried, the antics of celebrities such as Lohan and pals Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie are routinely on the front page of the CNN website.

While just about anyone can identify any member of that trio, many of those same people likely would be hard pressed to name their representatives in Congress or even on the local level.

They would be even less likely to be able to locate Baghdad - or Iraq for that matter - on a world map.

One only has to tune in to Jay Leno's popular "Jaywalking" segment to see proof of the dumbing down of America.

:therethere:

While we laugh as people struggle on camera to name the vice president of the United States, we ought to realize it's also a sad commentary on what is happening to American society.

What is most frightening is that a generation of young people is growing up holding these "celebrities" as role models to emulate. How many young girls idolize Paris Hilton, Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan, all three of whom are becoming more known for their shortcomings and stints in jail and rehab than their talent or fashion?

Unfortunately. there doesn't seem to be any end to this downward spiral as the Information Age directs more attention to a celebrity-driven society while real heroes go unnoticed.



Yeeaap......


Huntington Herald

Gheen continued: "We are going to start contacting celebrities about the important issues that can completely alter American politics and the fabric of this nation.

Perhaps that way, we can get the media to actually warn people when the Senate is going to vote on a massive amnesty that a majority of Americans oppose."



HAHAH, I love this quote...