Fred Thompson on the Economy / Jon Stewart on Media Bias / Ebert on Celebrity Worship
No response, Dec 02, 2008I enjoyed Fred Thompson on Law and Order and feared him when he was on the campaign trail: “Hey, y’all, I’m Ronald Reagan, but meaner and more stoic!”. Now he’s back with a brilliant, droll commentary on the economy:
This is the sort’ve common sense Ross Perot brought to the state of the union in 92 (as well as Ron Paul in 2007 before anyone was talking about the economy). It makes you wonder how someone can be so different (some would say insane) while campaigning but become so reasonable when outside of the political sphere.
Also, now that there’s (about to be) a Democrat in office, Jon Stewart asks, “Who will be the administration’s mouthpiece, and what will Fox News do?”:
And, finally (via Kottke), Roger Ebert rails against the media’s celebrity worship.
The AP, long considered obligatory to the task of running a North American newspaper, has been hit with some cancellations lately, and no doubt has been informed what its customers want: Affairs, divorces, addiction, disease, success, failure, death watches, tirades, arrests, hissy fits, scandals, who has been “seen with” somebody, who has been “spotted with” somebody, and “top ten” lists of the above. (Celebs “seen with” desire to be seen, celebs “spotted with” do not desire to be seen.)
The CelebCult virus is eating our culture alive, and newspapers voluntarily expose themselves to it. It teaches shabby values to young people, festers unwholesome curiosity, violates privacy, and is indifferent to meaningful achievement. One of the TV celeb shows has announced it will cover the Obama family as “a Hollywood story.” I want to smash something against a wall.