mikevarley.com

On Complicit Insanity

There’s an actual ad on television this week comparing Britney Spears and Paris Hilton to Barack Obama. On TV, there’s an advertisement suggesting a man running for President is on the same level as a woman famous for multiple sex tapes and a woman who once entered rehab to avoid a custody hearing. On your television screen, a head shot pops up approving this message, approving this vapid connection. A flick of the channel reveals the same man, flashing his brand name integrity. First impressions fill the blanks to neuter public horror.

On the blogs this week, “the biggest celebrity on the planet” shifted his thoughts on offshore drilling. This week on the blogs, Barack Obama moved to the middle, away from a stance roundly agreed to be level-headed and practical in scope. On your front page Drudge Report in red clear letters, the presumed president in waiting met the challenge of divergent policy with the red-cape flourish of moderation. Another war, so long as we’re liberators; another rig, so long as it’s tidy.

This week in media hell, Obama implied race, McCain played chaste and the newsmen seasoned to taste. This week in cable news, the chicken ate the egg and clucked in utter self-involvement. This week on The View, Whoopi gave Barbara a good talkin’ to and a hundred stray votes were decided.

Complicit insanity speaks to our vanity that we are a nation immune. Dismiss it as mindless, as ketchup blood violence, till everything plays out of tune.

[audio:http://www.mikevarley.com/old/words/MikeVarley.com On Complicit Insanity.mp3]