aggienaut: (Tiananmen)
[personal profile] aggienaut

June 16th, 2009 - Republican Senator John Ensign admits he had an affair with a staffer.


June 24th, 2009 - Republican Senator John Ensign thanks his lucky stars as Republican Governor Mark Sanford steals the spotlight by having a much more interesting affair. Turns out he wasn't hiking alone on an Appalachian trail at all but getting frisky in Buenos Aires with an Argentinian!
   I don't know about you but news coverage of this story has left me with some unanswered questions -- I want to hear more about this Appalachian trial he was allegedly hiking on! (oh and is the Argentinian at least hot?)

Also, a deep thought from my favourite place, Textsfromlastnight.com:

   (303): Marriage: a sacred union between one man and one woman, and another woman in Argentina.


June 25th, 2009 - Republican Governor Mark Sanford thanks his lucky stars Michael Jackson steals the spotlight by conveniently expiring. All media forms go ape-shit.
   Just glancing down my facebook newsfeed there is a nauseating amount of "RIP Michael Jackson" "Michael Jackson is dead???" "bye bye Michael" status messages. I changed my status message to "Kris Fricke is not amused that the death of some fairly strange and creepy guy has completely taken over all forms of media." and immediately got a disapproving comment (unless she was saying she would like to dislike the MJ statuses, but I suspect it's me she wants to dislike).
   I just don't get why he's deserving of being mourned like the messiah though. Sure he made a lot of songs a lot of people really like -- he was also supremely creepy. People who are NOT creepy die every day. For example a young girl named Neda was shot by government paramilitaries during protests in Iran just the other day, and I didn't see you all mourning HER in your status messages. Or, for that matter, I believe Michael Jackson keeling over has probably garnered more twiffling and FB status-ing than the entire Iranian election fiasco. I think that is sad.

   But then again, we live in a world where professional purveyor of insipid gossip "Perez Hilton" has the 143rd most visited website in America. But at least someone punched him in the face.

Creepiness Aside

Date: 2009-06-26 05:20 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] vakratunda.livejournal.com
Michael Jackson was a brilliant composer, musician, dancer and choreographer, who had lasting influence on music and pop culture. He also had issues. Lots of people have issues. Fewer have talent on the level that he had.

Neda Soltan is not actually dead. Her body is dead.

Comparing the two is ridiculous. Jackson's accomplishments will fade into the past, eventually the last person that knows about his music or cares will die (I think this will take a while, but it will eventually happen). Neda Soltan, on the other hand, will live as long as Iran lives and if (as I suspect) the Iranian people eventually triumph, it will be Neda's triumph.




.

Date: 2009-06-26 01:46 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] doodlemaier.livejournal.com
Only in America. . . The rest of the world gets on with life.

Date: 2009-06-26 02:51 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] zellie-bean.livejournal.com
It's government policy that if you are in a position of power, you're having an affair. ^_~

I think the explosion over Michael Jackson stems from the personal connection people have developed with him not his worth or important in the grand scheme of things. They may not know him as in face-to-face friends but they know as much OF him as if they have met face-to-face. They've read his song lyrics, followed his career, tuned in to interviews, watched his reactions, guessed at his motives. His creativity left a mark in our culture that some people can look at in reference to their lives--remembering times they danced with friends to Thriller, or whatever, honestly I never paid much attention to his music so I can't think of good examples ^_~ But the point is, people have a more direct experience with his personality. More like a family member, or quirky coworker dying. I don't know that it's about deserving, though a lot of people respect his musical career, it's about that connection.

Neda is just a name on a page for people outside of Iran--if that. People don't know what what made her laugh, mistakes she's made, words or creations haven't become a cultural icon or personal turning point - all those things that celebrity news forces down your throat. There's no reference point for people in the US to be upset about. As you said, people die every day. We can't mourn everyone, so we mourn those who had the most impact on our lives.

For those tuned in to what's going on in Iran, that may be Neda.... but there are a lot of people who are busy worrying about their day-to-day, could care less what their next door neighbor is up to let alone what happens overseas.

Date: 2009-06-27 03:28 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] fsk8ing-judge.livejournal.com
Aww, I like insipid gossip, especially Perez. Makes my commute palpable.

Date: 2009-06-27 07:15 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] emo-snal.livejournal.com
(: I'll admit the extremely juicy bits like politicians having affairs is kind of fun, but when the radio starts making wild speculations about the minor details of celebrities lives I have to change the channel.

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