The Worship of Celebrity

A recurrent theme in this blog over the past two years has been the inexplicable chasm between the values placed by much of Society on celebrity vs. the amount of esteem lavished on everyday heroes such as emergency medical personnel, firefighters, police officers, teachers, etc. No matter how frequently the failings of many celebrity politicians, athletes and entertainers are reported, there's always another one being doted on by some people who perhaps are vicariously living the celebrity life by merely worshiping the quite imperfect individuals represented by the rich and famous.

No better example could be cited than one of the all time sleaziest celebrities--Rod ("I'll eat bugs if I have to") Blagojevich. At his recent Federal corruption trial in Chicago (now facing a do-over in January thanks to one lamebrained juror), we were treated to the daily spectacle of people outside the Federal building clamoring to shake his hand and get his autograph! A few days after the trial ended mostly inconclusively, but with Helmet Hair now a convicted felon, he was mobbed by customers at a Comic Convention who paid good money to get in and meet the Great One. To all these people TNB says--you are pathetic and need to get a life!!

What about all the athletes who are practically the deity to many of their fans --that is, until many of their warts become viral, at which time a new "religion" (read- different celebs to worship) is adopted. Take New Orleans Saints star Reggie Bush who was one of the biggest all-time USC football stars (just after O.J. Simpson, who still has some admirers) until some newly exposed flagrant recruiting violations have totally disgraced the university, causing severe penalties and forcing Bush to return the ultimate college football award--the Heisman Trophy. At least among Trojan students and alumni, the adoration formerly heaped on Bush is no longer a practicing doctrine.

And who knows who will be the next celebrity to fall from grace--for all anyone can predict, it could be an entertainer such as Lady Gaga (not actually a member of the nobility), a politician such as Sarah Palin ( there are many signs that she actually is not a person of great substance) or maybe another athlete who seems like Mr. Clean (say Tiger Woods--oh wait that did happen).

In any event, someone new will burst upon the scene and will inspire slavish devotion until?

Me-Ness

For some time now there have been wails and moans about today's younger generation ("Millennials") being unusually self absorbed--you know "the me generation". But let's light up on these people (our kids and grandkids). TNB has observed that every generation (even the "elderly"--see last month's post Age Old Story) has to some degree succumbed to the it's all about me syndrome which might be, to coin a term, called Me-Ness. Examples abound of such unflattering, inconsiderate and downright rude behavior now in vogue.

• Recently, the Chicago Cubs announced that one bleacher section at one game was going to be peanut free to accommodate many peanut allergic fans. The uproar was shocking--if you or your child has such allergies, tough but don't inconvenience me ever so slightly. Me-Ness at its finest!
• While many if not most politicians exhibit a high level of Me-Ness (several steps past self-esteem!) no one has come close in recent memory to Rod Blagojevich, a now convicted felon who of course is hoping to find another moronic juror at his retrial who can be persuaded that his Me-Ness is a victim of the big bad Feds who dared to take him away from his family, threaten his home and in what has to be the most outrageous statement in a long time deprived (!) the people of Illinois of their Governor. TNB has never felt so desperate.
• When it comes to Me-Ness, even politicians, who after all still need to elected, aren't close to professional athletes. To cite just one currently in the news--overpaid, over-the-hill, steroid abuser Manny Ramirez who was dumped by the L.A. Dodgers with the Chicago White Sox giving nothing in return, except for picking up the $4.4 million (yes million) owed to Manny for possibly one month of his "services". As his final act with the Dodgers, when sent up to pinch hit in a crucial situation, he managed to get himself (deliberately?) ejected after one pitch. Then when he belatedly joined the White Sox in Cleveland (too exhausted by the 5 hour flight, in first class, to play that night) he gave his first interview almost entirely in Spanish, with a coach as interpreter. Manny grew up in New York City's Washington Heights and speaks perfect English, so what was this--Me-Ness at the ultimate?

When are we going to see a little You-Ness?

Age Old Story

It's no secret to most of you that TNB is fast approaching his 75th birthday and while he does have a few creaks to say the least, arguably his mind is still functioning. Fortunately, he's not alone. Recently a number of TNB's high school classmates (76 people including spouses, etc.), almost all born in 1935, threw a very nice birthday party for themselves and while of course some have ongoing ailments as a whole they have been extremely lucky (TNB included) to reach this milestone.

Sadly, most of the rest of our society does not recognize that lots of people of this age and much older are viable and energetic. While planning the party, a search for candies and other favors marked with the number 75 turned up empty. The highest number apparently produced was 70, thus implying what--anybody older than that can't or shouldn't be attending parties? The media labels anyone over 60 as ancient ("elderly woman hit by car" sometimes means a 62 year old).

Then of course there are the marketing and advertising geniuses who don't believe that many seniors have enough disposable income (colleges and weddings are usually behind them) to be able to and desire to purchase anything besides prescription drugs and maybe cruises. So marketing for most products is targeted towards younger people, many of whom are drowning in debt, rather than recognizing that we "elderly" are willing to buy autos, clothes (if we could find some that fit), electronics and a ton of other things that we are actually able to operate!

Speaking of prescription drugs aimed primarily at those on Medicare, don't you just love the actors or models used in TV commercials who generally are a little younger than they're supposed to be and after ingesting the prescribed remedy always wind up hiking, sailing or participating in some strenuous activity (once their bladders are controlled)? Or they may be sitting naked in adjoining outdoor bathtubs waiting for the next 4 hour opportunity before the ED drug wears off. BTW, ads for the latter contain only one example of the absurd admonition to "call your doctor" if some horrendous side effect occurs. Likely, you'll get voice mail. Worse yet what if the side effect is "thoughts of suicide"? Imagine being put on hold.

Who's Sorry Now

Is there anything sorrier and less meaningful than the seemingly rote apologies that are forthcoming almost hourly from public figures, mostly prompted by their PR people or "image consultants"?

Often of course we're talking about a politician, entertainer or athlete who's sorry over some sexual or financial indiscretion (actually sorry about being caught). But there are other types of apologies being made, such as the following recent examples:

• Bill O'Reilly-- Sorry about his role in the Shirley Sherrod USDA firing scandal (not to mention Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, sorry for his role in same scandal ). Hasn't President Obama also expressed his regret (he should!).
• Glenn Beck-- Truth be told, he should apologize for just existing. His latest "I'm sorry" resulted from his calling Chicago Bears star Brian Urlacher a "neo-Nazi" based on a shaved head picture of the linebacker Beck saw in something called "The Blackest White People" (honestly). Beck admits to knowing nothing about sports, but stopped short of admitting he's a 100% idiot.
• Mark Kirk--The Illinois senatorial candidate (and 5 term GOP Congressman from TNB's home district) has spent the Summer constantly apologizing for frequent revelations of how, over the years, he has significantly embellished his resume, particularly but not only as it pertains to his military service. Actually, business recruiters, among others, are all too painfully aware of just how how insidious the practice of "resume padding" has become.

Americans, sad to say, are extremely forgiving (and gullible) and too many insincere "I'm sorry" declarations are readily accepted instead of being treated for what most really are--self-serving, glib "let's get this over with" pronouncements, deserving of sneers, not cheers.

Bum of the Month

It's only halfway through July and TNB is feeling overwhelmed by an extraordinary number of candidates to be considered for Bum of the Month. If you're wondering, this a highly sought honor, because not just any garden variety sleaze can qualify. How about this (partial) list:

• Mel Gibson No big surprise that the anti-Semitic drunken ravings of a few years ago (he's the son of a famous Holocaust denier) have been updated to include apparent physical and mental abuse of his ex-girlfriend/ mother of his 8th child, not to mention more racial rants. Please don't tell TNB that there's still a place in the movie industry for this POS (a term that Cubs manager Lou Piniella used about a year ago on another Bum--Milton Bradley)?
• Rush Limbaugh Actually, Rush could be a viable candidate just about any month. Remember when he asked a black caller on the air if she had a bone in her nose? But the old pill-popper has outdone himself with his "eulogy" for George Steinbrenner (no saint himself) wherein he called him a "cracker" who made many African-Americans multimillionares (it's OK of course for "good ole boys" like Rush to make obscene amounts for poisoning so many gullible minds).
• LeBron James/ Dan Gilbert/Jesse Jackson It was bad enough that the supremely narcissistic James conned ESPN (which got great ratings despite or perhaps because of the bad publicity) into an hour-long love fest wherein he finally made the breathless announcement of where "he's taking his talents to" next season. Then Cavs owner Dan Gilbert, acting rather petulant and childish, blasted James for deserting the ship. But leaving no PR opportunity unturned, there was Jesse Jackson, complaining that Gilbert acted like his prized "runaway slave" had gone. Considering the dollars involved and that James' contribution to the well-being of most Americans is next to nil, TNB is feeling a huge disconnect with what's really important.
• Rod Blagojevich Another perpetual candidate who might be off the charts soon, although (you read it here first) he could escape conviction since the evidence presented at his trial by the prosecution has not shown blatant criminality--only the character defects of ignorance, arrogance, vanity, greed, etc. that should have been painfully obvious from the start. We get the leaders we deserve, it is said. But hey, what did we do wrong to get him (along with dozens of others that could be named)?

If anyone has another candidate for Bum of the Month that could equal this group, let TNB know before July ends and we have to start all over.

Happy Mid Year

These days it seems like so much is happening (partially a result of the information explosion which transmits news of all sorts instantaneously) that it no longer is appropriate to have just a year-end summary. Indeed why not such a summary at mid year which of course is now here? This way, you might recall some of the following events:

Still in the News:

• The Oil Spill. It's not improbable that unfortunately this will still be a major story at the end of the year (of course November's midterm elections are huge). Few heroes but many losers!

Pretty Much Forgotten:

• The Haitian Earthquake. Now that it's been supplanted by all things BP, does anyone care what has happened to the beleagured Haitian people? Sadly, yesterday's tragedy du jour.
• Tiger Woods. Not much coverage anymore especially since he has failed to excel on his return to competitive golf. And then of course there's Jesse James (no, not the outlaw) and others to keep the tabloid fires burning.
• Jay Leno/Conan O'Brien. Why was so much made of one multimillionaire late night star pushing another one off the air temporarily? In more ways than one, much ado about nothing.
• The Winter Olympics. Quick, name 3 medal winners. OK, there's Apollo Ohno, Lindsay Vonn and let me think awhile. Interesting entertainment for a few weeks but egregiously overpromoted by NBC, which lost a small fortune televising the Games. But the lead-ins to their regular programming! WOW!
• The Implosion Of Toyota. Unbelievable damage to a respected brand, with the result that Toyota recently erected a huge sign at Wrigley Field, home of another formerly respected brand--the Chicago Cubs.

After laboriously churning out this summary, TNB will now go out and celebrate Mid Years Eve in the traditional fashion--joining other like minded revelers (grateful that they've survived another six months) for a nightcap. That is, if anything's open past 10 PM.

Joe the Oil Apologist

Remember way back in 2008 when Joe the Plumber burst onto the scene and was quickly anointed a hero by John McCain and Fox News? Turned out of course that he was neither "Joe" nor a working plumber but his temporary elevation to cult status probably to some extent presaged the rise of the so-called Tea Party. BTW, do you ever wonder if say Joe Biden were President whether the Tea Party rhetoric would be so vicious? Just saying.

Anyway, back to our latest Joe hero--actually named Joe Barton. He's the Republican congressman from Texas, long financed by the oil industry, who's the ranking minority member on the House Energy Committee (he'll be chairman if the Republicans win the House in November). At today's Committee hearing called to publicly excoriate BP CEO Tony Hayward, Joe briefly stole the show when he "apologized" to Hayward for yesterday's White House "shakedown" (Joe's words) whereby BP agreed to forego its 2010 dividend and place $20 billion in an escrow fund to compensate victims (those "small people" as called by BP's Chairman the other day!) of the Gulf of Mexico spill.


After both Democrats (no surprise) and the Republican leadership (doing damage control) disavowed Joe's remarks, Joe spent the afternoon retracting his earlier "apology", in effect apologizing for it. He, of course had been threatened with having his seniority rights stripped away, a fate second only to losing his oil industry donations. After all the "spin" cleared what remained was the absolute certainty that Joe really meant it all along--and he's hardly the only "oil apologist"in the Republican ranks. Had the spill gone West, towards Texas, instead of heading East, TNB wonders what apology Joe would have uttered.


What is it with the name Joe anyway? During the last State of the Union address, President Obama was heckled from the House floor by previously obscure GOP representative Joe Wilson of Georgia who promptly raked in millions in donations. Is there any doubt that this a great country? TNB may change his name to "Joe the Blogger"--guaranteed to be a winner.