The Devil is Celebrity

Americans can barely read and write, so it seems like the best employment option is celebrity, especially if one has really messed up.

Take Bristol Palin, the unwed daughter of Sarah Palin, and a mother herself. With her infant on her lap and her telegenic father seated next to her, she espoused "abstinence only" on morning talk shows this week, just months after she told Fox News that abstinence doesn't work. Quite obviously, with a child in hand, and inarticulately, I might add.

At the same time, Levi Johnston, the estranged father of Bristol's child, was admitting on Larry King Live that abstinence doesn't work. Duh!

Who wants to listen to them? They are high school drop outs who didn't use birth control, and are now fighting on separate flat screen televisions. But there is the lure of celebrity.

Yesterday Joe the Plumber decided to leave the Republican Party in another inarticulate explanation. Although he said that he was leaving because he couldn't take all of the spending, he added that he didn't support spending cuts in "defense, Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid -- which, along with debt payments, would put more than two-thirds of the budget off limits."

He was a featured guest with Congressional staffers as a political strategist. He is an unlicensed plumber, let's not forget that! But he was a celebrity!

Elizabeth Edwards can't get out of the spotlight either. She has written a book and is on the humiliating book tour speaking about the betrayal of her husband, John Edwards, who had an affair, one that lasted longer than a one-night-stand, while running for president and she was ailing from breast cancer. And is that baby his? Ah, the lure of the microphone, the attention, the clothes, the narcissism!

And finally there is Dick Cheney. The guy hid out during the eight years he was vice president and now everyplace you turn on the conservative spectrum of radio and television, there he is, Darth Vader himself, defending his administration and criticizing Obama for cleaning up the mess. Can't come out of the limelight, eh, Dick?

How did this happen! At least Molly, the wayward cow who ran away from the slaughter house got the real reprieve: a quiet life on an organic farm in New Jersey with a steer who loves her. And hopefully, we will never hear about her again.