* We’re still getting news, as regards to the death of Anna Nicole Smith, whether we want it, or not. I’ve pretty much written myself off as to having to deal with that for at least a couple of weeks. If not longer.
I see McQ’s initial reaction [1] is pretty much the same as mine. One reaction that surprised and encouraged me, was that of Bernard Goldberg, who appeared on Fox news this evening, (O’Riley I think) to suggest that for all of the coverage that cable news has been giving this event, you’d think we were dealing with the death of a head of state.
I think Bernie’s tapped into something with that comment. What in the world about anything this woman has done, is cause for such responses from the news media? The woman couldn’t pass wind, without AP blowing out 15 bells.
(Hint to the clueless… back in the old days of the slow news ticker.. the A-wire as it was called… 15 bells was reserved for only the highest priority traffic, on the level of Apollo 13’s O2 Tank exploding in space, the death of a sitting President, and so on. Such was the header when Reagan got shot, for example… I know… I was on the air that day…)
Large boobs, small brain, seems to me the only attraction she ever had going.
Don’t misunderstand my comments; That she died, was tragic, certainly. But as best I can tell it was no less tragic than her life. I am forced to conclude that she occupied as much news space as she did, for one of two reasons… I’m not sure which is more depressing;
++She struck a chord with her fellow idiots in the news media
++ She struck a chord with her fellow idiots in the general population, and the news media was simply responding to that interest
I suppose some of the interest comes down to “Gee, there’s actually someone more screwed up than I am”. The sadder part of that is that there are still some people consider that to be a role model, of all things. Given what we know about the lack of thought processes in most people today, I suppose that should be no surprise at all. It still makes one shake their head, though.
And if you think role models don’t come into this, I would suggest you look at the parallels between her and another bleached blond with large bazooms and no brain; Marilyn Monroe.
Both appeared in Playboy, of course… and that was her major claim to fame, I suppose, in both cases… Cathy made mention of an old column [2] that comes to mind, yesterday…One of the memes in the column was the change of style over the years away from the cheesecake into the harder core, and back again. And that change, I think to be reflective of a change in the society, which in turn, was as much driven by the likes of Playboy as by anything else; they tended to feed on each other. I never figured I’d be suggesting relative modesty to be societally groundbreaking, but there it is.
I’m sure I’ll think of a better way to lay out this comparison, at some point, but for the time being I suppose the only difference between those two is that when Monroe did it, it was strictly out of bounds, and very unusual. Smith blazed a trail that had been already trod, 40 years before. She couldn’t even add ‘pioneer’ to her list. Ultimately, the only way she could cut her own path, was to be more revealing, and in the end more vulgar, which proved to be of less value to the people whose attention she so craved. What she got back, wasn’t worth what she traded for it.
Here, in the end, is a train wreck of a life, that even the intelligent among us, couldn’t look away from for very long. Truly sad.
The discussion going on over at No More Mr. Nice Blog [3] is, will this death push the story about John Edwards and his tolerance of intolerance towards Catholics in his campaign staff, off of cable network news. The answer, for my part, is likely yes…. they’ve been looking for the distraction, I think. And that’s sad, too.
* Speaking of that; I’ve pretty much held my peace as regards his staff and his choices ; I’ve done so because it seems to me that Amanda Marcotte and Melissa McEwen are right in line with what constitutes the Democratic party today. (mind you, that’s not a compliment, gang..) Nothing remarkable about it. I’ll say this again; their anti religious attitudes, their bigotry, are center line for the Democratic party today. (A recent example) [4] Can I make that any more clear for you?
Apparently, Edwards, in his arrogance, has decided to keep them on staff, hoping apparently that the death of Anna Nicole Smith and the resulting 24/7 treatment of it, is going to keep his staff, and his choices thereof, off the front page, as it were. Another interpretation of this action, might be that Edwards is in an untenable situation, either way; he can either react to the firestorm, as he did initially, and anger his base, or he can placate his base, and anger everybody else. Apparently, given the distraction of the moment, (Smith, room temp) he’s decided that angering everyone else isn’t going to be quite as painful, since the majority of the people that would be voting for a man like Edwards, wouldn’t be paying attention just now, anyway.
I tend to doubt, however that he’s going to be successful in keeping this off the table for very long. And it’s a long way to November 2008… besides, neither one of them has been known for keeping their mouths shut at inopportune moments; That rather goes hand in hand, with the vitriol that got them the gig with Edwards in the first place. My guess is they’re gonna dig their own grave between now and then… and Edwards along with them.
* I notice that Oliver Willis has not had the courage to address my question [5] of the other day. Like Smith’s death, it doesn’t surprise me in the least.
* Another matter I’ve not commented on, is Lisa Nowak. That certainly is a tragedy, as well, albeit in a different kind of tragedy. By every report I have seen, the activities that she became involved with that were reported on, are completely out of character with everything she’s done previously. That speaks to me of someone who felt their world slipping away and reacted accordingly.
Certainly, we’re going to be arguing about the sordid details on this for a long time; the wheels of justice are not exactly fast in this area… and I do not say this to defend her, but I can tell you from some personal experience (Second hand… a good friend) that losing a relationship that you had spent a lifetime building is traumatic enough to drive the most strong willed individual into acts that they normally wouldn’t even contemplate. Acts beyond all logic and reason. I am I no means suggesting that I approve of her actions; merely that I understand them.
* I see by way of Byron York at The Corner [6]that the Pelosi/Reid Congress is running on the order of a 55% disapproval rating. Somehow, that doesn’t strike me as being much of a success. But by God, Pelosi got airplane, don’t she?