The Case of the Inexplicable Twins

There has been a number of unusual media obsessions over the past few years. The common theme of these cases is that they involve strenuous coverage of stories which many media critics consider unfit for more than a passing mention on national news shows. However, at least some of them share a deep thematic similarity with news stories which are embarrassing to political powers. The difference is who they involve. For instance, as Cindy Sheehan was camped outside George Bush’s ranch in Crawford, Texas, demanding to meet with the President concerning the death of her son in Iraq, the mother of the missing teenage girl Natalee Holloway received obsessive coverage of her quest to force authorities in Aruba to work harder to find her daughter. Another, more timely story are the twin quests of Paris Hilton and Scooter Libby to stay out of jail. Paris was forced to serve part of her time in prison, despite the Sherriff’s decision to allow a term of house arrest in lieu of time in a cell. Libby, on the other hand, had yet to begin his sentence when the President commuted his jail time, with the public explanation that he found the sentence “excessive.”
These incidents may provoke an emotional and moral confusion, of which I sometimes wonder, “Is it intentional?” The story of a mother, seeking closure for a child’s death and her conviction that civil authorities have been negligent or callous in dealing with the situation; the story of a priviliged person, found guilty of a crime and sentenced to jailtime over strenuous objections; Sheehan vs. Holloway and Libby vs. Hilton present deep themeatic similarites. The question is, are there any more of these cases? Are the inexplicable ones, the ones that would not normally rise to the level of obsessional national media coverage, chosen by some conscious mechanism? Or is it an example of subconscious “me-too” behavior, or one-upsmanship among the media? Does this coincidence of stories detract from people’s understanding of the ones that have national import? Are they, intentionally or unintentionally, used as “relief valves” for outrage that may involve the political elites?

The Real Kings of Corruption and Bureauracracy

(At this time, this post is just semi-coherent ranting, a highway rambling to and fro regardless of terrain. I will do my best to edit its route and support its structure. I hope in the end the roadway will be far enough elevated for us to survey the lie of the land, and to realize that its seemingly illogical route had given us at least an unsurpassed tour of the entire region.)

Has anyone noticed what a bunch of crooks and fools nearly our entire ruling class seems to be? From clenching your ass so completely that the only way you could get off is by putting on some sort of wacky-assed mating dance in public bathrooms,, to being so jaw-droppingly delusional, to joining the bully who should rightly be afraid of you in beating the dorky kid in the cafeteria cause you'd rather be seen with a belligerent, half-crazed moron than hang with some weirdo.

But that's just in our Federal Government. That's just among an institution which was designed to be nearly powerless over its own citizens except in the most extraordinary of circumstances. You see, most of the guys who wrote the constitution had more understanding of history and human nature than your average television talking head, all right? So in no circumstances should you allow Fucking Charles Krauthammer's pure bullshit to sway your opinion on anything, no matter what's changed since 1776. We should at least honor their most elevated goal: Freedom of People from Arbitrary Governance.