Seattle Times: The conscientious public

[marmar]

Guest columnists

The conscientious public
By Carla Seaquist

Special to The Times


For some time now, the commentariat — columnists, critics, bloggers — has bashed the American public as "celebrity-starved," gobbling every sighting and, better yet, smashup of a person "famous for being famous."

And, with the smashups accelerating — just this year we have had shock jock Don Imus, former stripper Anna Nicole Smith, socialite Paris Hilton — the bashing accelerates. Increasingly, we also are cited — in both mainstream and "new" media — as "porn-loving," "potty-mouthed," "stupid," "shopaholic," possessed of the attention span of a flea and, as to political (in)activity, history-averse and criminally apathetic.

Enough. Before this contemptuous "conventional wisdom" congeals into "fact," let's get clear: Some of our number in this democracy may be gaga over celebrity, though I have yet to meet one of these creatures. But — crucial to the survival of the Republic — some of us are most emphatically not.

Call us the conscientious public. (And, if the following seems self-serving, it's meant both as defense against further defamation and antidote to declining readership, by turning a gimlet-eyed view of the broad public into respect for the worthy citizen, Democrat and Republican, within it.)

Instead of celebrity, our eye is on infinitely more important things: the unjust war that America forced on Iraq; the unnecessary death of Americans and Iraqis; our departure from the rule of law, with torture and secret prisons now standard. In short, America's moral fall. .....(more)

The complete piece is at: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2004045205_sundayseaquist02.html

[OffWithTheirHeads]

1. Excellent! k&r

[patrice]

2. Thank you! We Need to find one another!

We need this kind of hope.

[Uncle Joe]

3. Hear Hear an outstanding column!

Thanks for the thread, marmar.:applause:

[L0oniX]

4. Sorry ...I'm too busy reading the Star, Globe and watching Entertainment on Tv

Yes ...trailer trash has the attention of the mainstream media. It's all a big Jerry Springer show.