America's Loss

A thought worth thinking about:

My nephew, Brian Bradshaw, was killed by an explosive device in Afghanistan on June 25, the same day that Michael Jackson died. Mr. Jackson received days of wall-to-wall coverage in the media. Where was the coverage of my nephew or the other soldiers who died that week? There were several of them, and our family crossed paths with the family of another fallen soldier at Dover Air Force Base, where the bodies come “home.” Only the media in Brian's hometown [in Washington State] and where he was stationed before his deployment [Alaska] covered his death.

I understand Michael Jackson's influence is tremendous; that he's touched millions of lives. That he should be judged on the whole complexity of his life, and not remembered solely on allegations of child molestation. If he's done any harm in the world, he also did an enormous amount of good, which included generous donations to charity.

I wasn't a big fan of his music. And I certainly thought he was bizarre. I have great difficulty looking at anyone who has had as much plastic surgery as he had without my stomach churning.

But there's something disconcerting with this level of attention. Jackson's death not only eclipsed the deaths of Ed McMahon and Farrah Fawcett in fan-driven media coverage, but it also bumped the aftermath of the Iranian election off item #1 in the news.

There's also something extremely weird about our human condition, where entertainment celebrities are held to exalted worship while soldiers who are fighting and dying to defend our way of life remain faceless and nameless as far as media coverage is concerned.

Of course, interest level drives the ratings; so we can fault our own selves as much as blame the media for not driving the news stories worth knowing.

Also, check out American Power regarding the circus atmosphere and cost to the city of LA (isn't the state of California bankrupt, already?).

*UPDATE*

CJ posted this Glenn Beck segment: