“B-Boy”

My Thoughts….

OK, some of you have asked me to weigh in on "Balloon Boy" here goes.

Television is no longer a positive influence on our culture, if it ever was at all. It's become a means by which corporate America, bloated and unaccountable, inflicts their version of what American culture should be on the rest of us. That is, we should be a flock of sheep that will stand up on its hind legs and stand in line for whatever product they're selling, in this case bottom of the barrel, low overhead entertainment. It's as true of American Idol as it is for this type of sensationalist "reality". When the cameras are running, all bets are off and the hard sell is on. And the corporations rake in the money, the better to reward their executives. And the news media is part and parcel of this trend. They're selling their own brand of reality-based snake oil. Truth but not the whole truth.

Our media (including the Internet) has created these people and their ceaseless need for camera time. In our age of self-directed voyeurism and an almost across the board lack of shame about putting your personal life on exhibit, this is what our culture has become.

As Garrison Keillor once said about the Baby Boomers, "We are one generation removed from serious people." Well we're a couple of generations removed at this late date and we're getting less and less serious as time goes on. That's why we keep getting taken in, over and over, by dishonest politicians and their corporate ringleaders. We're oblivious.

We have become an embarrassment as a people. We are consumed with the prospect of fame and notice, much like a spoiled immature child that acts out and doesn't know what to do with the attention when they finally get it.

As long as people continue their voyeuristic camping in front of the TV every night, these "idiots" will do what it takes to "achieve" their 15 minutes of fame.

Imagine if there was a loss of life because of resources wasted looking for a boy who never left the ground.

These self-absorbed parents would be culpable for something tangible, and the rage of the American people would manifest itself in a whole other direction.

We ought to focus on preventing this from happening again - and making sure that any media outlet that abets this type of misconduct be made to pay the price along with the offending parties.

My two cents…