Politicians are where the media empires want them

I had a nice impromtu exchange in my comments on the "That was fast" entry.

An excerpt from Anonymous' second post about VAN's comment about Nurse Nan (Ann Coulter)

The one caveat that I think makes Ann slightly different than Imus is that in the political arena, people rarely mean what they say. I think most of America perceives things coming out of the mouths of politicos as merely a tool meant to accomplish some specified end, not as an authentic statement of belief whereas, ironically, the Imuses, the Howard Sterns, and the Lettermans of the world are supposed to be more authentic, in tune, or closer to their fans. So it is almost more outrageous to hear this type of speech coming from a celebrity than a political type because you feel ilke they actually mean it.

That people feel more connected to or better represented by celebrities than politicians is a little scary....

Well said..I wish I could call you something other than Anonymous (how 'bout Damn Right). Well Damn Right's point is an excellent example of the warping at the hands of Hollywood/media machine. Now you and I know that politicians are no paragon of virtue, but somehow every starlets' binge and purge/rehab/fight/OD/pregnancy what-have-you gets rewarded with AMPLE coverage and when politicans do just about anything, it gets a snippet of time on the news and then its back to Nancy Hollowell, Anna Nicole, or whatever other upper class, straight, white woman that the news is fixated on during that cycle.

Now I ask you, how can a politician look good in that sort of an environment. If the only way you get substanitative coverage is to behave badly. Think of that hoax of a governor in NJ for example - I nearly puked when I saw his visage on the cover of the Advocate. Or Christine Todd Whitman in a very public dismissal a few years back (also from NJ), or another NJ fiasco, the Corzine mess from last year. The non-story of the year HAS to be Obama and Hillary (who cares - it will be decided in January...and neither of them are saying anything substanitive anyways).

Meanwhile the really good shit never gets out fully. I WANT to see who is on the DC Madam's list. Will DWT's three gay (and Republican) senators be called out for their role in passing legislation against gay people or voting against gay-positive legislation - they were named this past week on his blog. I want to know why Karl Rove gets to write e-mails from the White House and then delete them at will using the RNC as cover. I want to know about the surge on Iraq now broadening into a extension of service from 12 to 15 months. Alberto Gonzoles is still employed - WHY? The Supreme Court just ruled that carbon dioxide can be regulated by the EPA - this is a MAJOR policy shift - just got a little footnote.

I could go on all day about the things that SHOULD matter but DON'T matter in the current media landscape.

My point, that I might finally get around to making (as Bubba would say "Honey, land the plane"), is that Damn Right hit the nail on the head. Politicians are held in lower regard than entertainers/media types. And that is exactly where Hollywood wants them - malleable and under the thumb of the media empires. Every citizen, who has substanitive interests in politics or is looking for better coverage, has turned off networks long ago (and now cable it would seem) and has hit either radio, web, or specialized publications to get content. This leaves a large swath of the channels on the cathode ray tube showing more and more garbage as the less politically motivated are left sitting in their chair and need something more debasing to watch while they eat their snacks.

Why worry about politics when you can see what Paris Hilton is doing now.