Media Distracts Voters from Issues with Celebrity-esque Gobbledygook

I was having dinner with some family members recently, and conversation turned to the Supreme Court. (Clearly, this was early in the evening.) My cousin startled me by being able, with his wife’s help, to name all nine Supreme Court Justices. Now, I’ll give you that she worked in politics for a while, but I couldn’t believe that they could remember all nine judges’ names. After my shock subsided, I was overcome by shame. I could name only four. Why is it that I can remember who Jessica Simpson’s hairdresser is, or the names of Britney’s kids, or what Li-Lo was driving when she got pulled over for DUI, but I know so little about the people who are interpreting the Constitution and affecting my life directly? I’ve joined the ranks of media whores.

Aside from the current economic bung-up, there are some serious political problems going on around here. We’re being stunned by inane, self-indulgent bells and whistles that distract us from using our brains to keep our country moving forward in a magnanimous, mutually beneficial track. Like when you distract a toddler with a shiny toy so he doesn’t notice you’re about to stick him with a needle. Politicians have become celebrities – one of them even, allegedly, “the most famous person in the world.”

In an era when we are bombarded with tabloid melodrama and paparazzi invasions of privacy, we’ve let the media convince us that it’s more important to know whether a “polebrity” has a history of marijuana use during college or how they laugh in front of a press conference than where they stand on issues that will keep us safe, healthy, and well educated. Is it really possible that Mitt Romney’s campaign got as far as it did just because he has perfect hair? Does it matter, in the long run, whether Obama went to Hawaii on vacation? Whether McCain writes emails or has someone do it for him? What are they going to do about the fact that people can’t afford medical insurance? How are they going to keep the oil lobby from squelching energy technology advances that might preserve our environment? I don’t care what Sarah Palin wore to meet Hamid Karzai; I want to know whether she talked to him about reducing terrorist activity in the Middle East.

How have we let them convince us that it’s more important whether a candidate is “likeable” or “elitist” than whether they have an interest in resolving complex issues that trouble our society? How can we expect to be taken seriously among our international community if we focus on politicians’ cleavage or their children’s names instead of pressing them (and their parties) to work to resolve issues in a timely and bipartisan manner?

The other day I came across the quote from a voter during the 2004 election that said W seemed like a guy you’d want to have a beer with. News flash: we don’t need a drinking buddy, we need a leader.

How do we save ourselves? Read the candidates’ stances on the issues, and make up our own minds. It’s time to turn off the news and turn on our brains. The polls don’t matter until November 4.