pat, pam, & paris

i've been trying to avoid writing about pat robertson, tho i did post a short comment about his hypocrisy 2 days ago on another blog. today pat apologized, but yesterday he actually denied he said what he said, and i don't think he's apologized for lying about it. if you're so inclined, you can still watch and listen to the lie and the original clip of his fatwa—yes, i know this isn't the correct use of the word, but it's now part of the slanguage—for the assassination of hugo chavez on last night's daily show online.

it never ceases to amaze me that so many folk are so gullible as to make no-nothings like robertson and his brother-in-arms jerry falwell into spiritual leaders. their brand of xianity is nothing more than a mishmash of fantasy and superstition that has about as much to do with jesus' teachings as g w bush's war has to do with sound diplomacy, intelligence, and strategy.

you could make a pretty good case that nearly 2000 americans now lie dead because cable "news" has shown so much deference to pat, jerry, and their ilk. their counterfeit tv gravitas helped build the environment that enabled a nonentity to use christ to get into the white house and start an unnecessary, illegal, immoral war that has only magnified the terrorist threat.

on the same daily show, jon stewart added yet more evidence to the indictment of cable "news" for the dumb-down of the american public. he showed a clip of larry king asking pamela anderson about "barbed wire," an unbelievably stupid film i admit i saw about 5 minutes of on tv a few years ago.

that film isn't what made pam as big as she is [pun intended]. she's a "star," as you undoubtedly know, because of a homemade sex video that let the world know of her incredible body when it got wide play on the internet. of course, most folk never saw it but learned of her via subsequent knee-jerk media coverage—or, as i prefer to call it, hi-tech gossip.

btw, i have nothing personal against anderson. she may be a sweet, down-to-earth person, for all i know. but her fame comes from morbid fascination, not merit.

her rise to glory was copycatted almost precisely by paris hilton, who proved that even a super-rich hotel heiress can still screw her way to the top. paris—another sweet child, no doubt—lacks pam's endowments. her natural asset is her family, whose wealth produces similar morbid fascination among the hoi polloi. she should get down on her knees 5 times a day to thank—or, perhaps, curse—her ancestors for making her what she is.

a word of advice to the "news" media: avoid giving free publicity to anybody whose first name begins with "p"—or, at least, stop peeing them on us.