STAR STRUCK STUPIDITY
by Tona Monroe
February 2, 2013
NewsWithViews.com
Americans are star struck. No I am not talking about star gazers. Their observation of stars makes much more sense than Americans fascination with celebrities. Even those of us who have no interest in Hollywood or athletes or rock stars are inundated with reports of what celebrities are doing. Star struck stupidity is permeating our society and leading to destruction.
Celebrity rags line the checkout stands at grocery stores. Restaurants are full of TVs with sports. Churches cancel services so people can stay home and watch the Super Bowl. Celebrity endorsements are on food, clothing and health and beauty products. News sources are loaded with celebrity fluff about who is wearing what, who is divorcing whom, where celebrities have traveled etc. Governments are funding entertainment. It’s nearly impossible to avoid celebrity mania if you engage in society.
On the front page of Yahoo, at the time of writing this article, the featured story is about Michelle Obama wearing a red dress at the Inaugural ball. Who gives a flip what Michelle Obama is wearing. One reporter sought to learn what Michelle Obama ate at 25 restaurants. While it’s good to check to see if actions match rhetoric, why haven’t we seen this meticulous effort from the media in exposing President Obama’s failure to keep campaign promises and his expansion of the police state? Tracking what the President’s wife eats sounds more like what you’d read about a celebrity than a President. Could it be that many Americans are more interested in celebrity Obama than President Obama?
The poll on Yahoo is asking whether Beyonce was lip-syncing at the inauguration. Who cares whether she was lip-syncing? How much skin is acceptable for celebrities to show and then be chosen to sing the national anthem? How much lewd dancing is acceptable? Shouldn’t the poll question be, do you think that the President should have someone of higher moral character sing the national anthem during inauguration?
Celebrities gravitate toward the Democratic Party. This makes sense given the lavish, selfish and sensual lifestyles that celebrities tend to live. Rather than use the riches they obtain from those with modest incomes, they prefer to use the force of government to steal from the middle class to fund welfare instead of creating charity and goodwill. But Republicans don’t want to be outdone.
A recent star struck stupid event was the Republican National Convention in Tampa. Clint Eastwood was a featured guest. I had no interest in watching any part of the charade after reports of what the RNC did to Ron Paul delegates but Eastwood stories and clips were plastered all over the Internet so I finally watched it. What a rambling buffoon. What was the point of his speech? The one coherent point he made about foreign policy was actually a rebuke of Romney and the neo-cons who permeate the Republican Party. Are conservatives so desperate to be accepted by movie stars that they have to invite a foul mouthed curmudgeon to show support for their agenda? Is this the best that Republicans can produce in support of their cause? Why stoop so low? In a nation of over 300 million people, surely there is someone who can articulate conservative values better than Clint Eastwood. Of course, Romney didn’t represent conservative values, so perhaps entertainment rather than substance was par for the course.
The problem isn’t limited to Democrats and Republicans. Nearly every kind of social organization from churches, to civic groups to liberty groups seek the support and endorsement of celebrities. Groups raise money and pay huge fees to hear celebrities speak as though the words coming out of their mouths are magical incantations, with favor from the gods, accomplishing things that we mere mortals can’t.
Why do people covet celebrity endorsements? Why is the opinion of a celebrity any more important than any other American? What do celebrities offer that is more valuable that those without stardom? How much do we have to hear about football players and their wives or girlfriends? How does this enrich our lives? How many Hollywood celebrities are getting paid big money to commit gun violence in movies but advocate gun control? Why should these people be taken seriously on anything they say?
Why do Americans know more about what celebrities are wearing and doing than what the government is doing? Why do so many Americans know more about their favorite sports team, than the police state building up around them? Why do Americans have hundreds of channels to watch on TV or tickets to some event, but can’t find the time to throw compromised career politicians out of office?
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Celebrity Obama, err… excuse me, President Obama’s inauguration looked more like Lollapalooza than a presidential inauguration. While the masses are star struck with entertainment, the government debt is growing, assault on gun ownership is growing, Americans can be indefinitely detained, drone strikes are terrorizing people in nations we haven’t declared war on, drones are coming to a city near you soon, the government is spying on you without warrants, REAL ID is becoming reality, Fusion Centers are gathering information, the Supreme Court has said you can be stripped searched over a parking ticket, “if you see something, say something” means cops can pull you over and murder your dog, the TSA is groping law-abiding Americans and has expanded beyond airports with VIPR, civil assets forfeiture is common place and much more. Government has become ugly.
Appeasing the masses with entertainment is nothing new. Bread and circuses acts are hardly a consolation for the growing police state. If Americans truly are exceptional like so many people claim, then they will break free from their star struck stupidity before the United States of America goes the way of Rome.
© 2013 - Tona Monroe - All Rights Reserve
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