MediaMyopic

Season 1 it was “stage presence.” Season 2 was all about “the IT” factor. This year’s American Idol catch phrase is ‘authenticity,’ – an oxymoron if I’ve ever heard one. The irony of Idol as a vehicle for authenticity is beyond absurd; it’s problematic because it presents a convoluted packaging of reality for its audience. What began as a talent search for the best pop artist has morphed into a vaudeville-esque competition for poseurs of disparate genres; now the judges cast token rockers, country singers, soul singers – even a beatboxer here and there. And this year they’re allowed instruments to boot. Nonetheless, contestants are pigeonholed into a genre by week one, before they can reflect on the kind of artist they want to be. They’re asked to sing from a limited song pool (which promote the works of guest judges), they’re told to signify a certain image through their style/dress and now Simon suggests how they are to address questions from the show’s version of the press: Ryan Seacrest. And somehow Simon has the gall to question the authenticity of this year’s contestants. Viewers beware this show was never authentic. Fox founded Idol on emulation and mimicry and the fakers (Daughtry anyone?) do just fine.

Ralph Nader, the third party spoiler, announced he will seek the presidency once again in 2008, much to my chagrin. Nader, the self-professed leftist, continues to align himself with Republicans by running in an election he simply cannot win. In fact, Republican candidate Mike Huckabee praised Nader’s entry on CNN, citing the uplift it provides the right wing with. Nader stole votes from Democrat Al Gore in 2000, just as Ross Perot snagged votes that would have went to George Bush, Sr. in 1992. While it may be admirable to make a political statement about our archaic two-party system, we must also recognize that change must stem from working within it — for now, at least. I’m all for a third party or Independent candidate with the means and support to win but these ridiculous pseudo-statements made by Ralph merely provide fodder for the Republican base — and votes for them. Remember that a vote for Nader is a vote for McCain. It’s rather ironic really, that a candidate for peace is, knowingly, boosting a war mongerer’s campaign. Go home Nader!

According to Time Magazine, the Army, the Marines, the Navy and the Air Force have pleaded with the Pentagon for several billion dollars more than the superfluously generous budgets alloted for 2009. The Air Force alone seeks $19 billion more than its $141 billion budget. Citing China and India as the benchmarks, the military has created a laundry list of ‘critical needs’ that the oft conservative-leaning Time reports includes dorm-room furniture. Since the end of the Clinton Administration, the U.S. Defense budget has doubled, under Bush. So much for fiscal conservative, eh? Democrats have suffered the longstanding stigma of being the big spenders, expanding government and raping the taxpayers, so to speak. But existing Defense spending — under Republican leadership — is comparable to World War II. If this isn’t rape, we don’t want to know what is. But all this extra cash sure does come in handy when it’s time to develop Pentagon-funded video games that glorify murdering civilians in less developed countries.

Talks are back on the table for a solid base of Democrats on Capitol Hill interested in putting an abrupt end to the eight years of chicanery known as the Bush-Cheney administration. But chances are you haven’t read anything about it. Mainstream media remains mum on the impeachment issue — an issue initially brought forth by Dennis Kucinich last spring. Perhaps it’s because do-nothing Pelosi fears the divisiveness of the matter. Wake up! The country has been polarized since the Civil War. Why pussyfoot around political issues that matter, simply to avoid discourse and debate? Manipulating the public to endorse a war unrelated to terrorism is far more detrimental to the country’s integrity than infidelity — a private matter that voting citizens should have never been exposed to. Where’s the Democrats’ version of Ken Star?

Off the pitcher’s mound, Clemens’ curveball is sharper than ever. His smoke and mirror approach to steroid allegations is nothing short of media manipulation. The legendary pitcher seized the opportunity to use his testimony to frame himself as a victim in a Catch 22. His claim: He appears guilty if he fails to put up a fight, but castigated for an overzealous challenge of the charges. Meanwhile, his defense rests on ambiguity and vague ‘facts.’ If his story holds true, Andy Petit is either the most spiteful or the most confused man to walk the planet. But the batter isn’t swinging at this curveball. Waxman and company aren’t buying it and neither should the public — or MLB’s fan base. This is not the Shakespearian tragedy he’s crafted within the public eye. He’s just another overweight, overpaid ex-pro athlethe unwilling to admit he cut corners to get ahead in a game of dying American nostalgia. While the Mitchell Report is a detriment to one of our great pastimes, Clemens rhetorical propaganda is a detriment to the role model. Pitch us something we can believe.

Today Yahoo! announced that it will resist temptation, at least a little while longer, to relinquish its autonomy to the salivating Microsoft Corp; they rejected the software giant’s $40 billion plus bid to take control of the Internet company (and my favorite search engine). Speculated as merely a business move to solicit a higher bid by some, media critics are hoping the move staves off another example of media consolidation — this time from Redmond. Microsoft has an uncanny knack of stomping out the competition but media consolidation is not the way to rival Google, the Web’s leading search engine. What happened to the days where competing companies waged their own battles? Today, it’s sell, sell, sell, which unfortunately leads to consolidate, consolidate, consolidate, leaving a very sparse number of media voices. Perhaps Facebook is next on the Bill Gates’ agenda. After all, in the same year Rupert Murdoch snagged not only the Wall Street Journal but MySpace, too.

I must preface this post by crediting a friend of mine, Scott Hagerman, as the brainchild. He offered to write the rant himself but, like most liberals, lacked the follow through. Hagerman’s absolutely right when he says he smells a rat with Washington’s $160 billion stimulus package poised for approval in the Senate, after sailing through the House. I appreciate the $500-600 ‘tax rebate’ the plan provides me but I don’t appreciate politicians passing this under the guise of ailing a weak economy. It’s a pre-election bribe championed by none other than President Bush. Speaking at a New York real estate event earlier this week, Peter Linneman, chief economist at NAI Global, called the stimulus package political propaganda. “The tax rebates are laughable. First of all, they don’t even go to the people who pay taxes,” he continued. And he’s partially right – many of these rebates may fall in the hands of senior citizens and the unemployed, which I don’t have a problem with but renders the ‘tax rebate’ title inaccurate. Thank you Capitol Hill for contributing to my vacation fund but it’s not enough to buy my vote. In the words of Linneman: “I’m not a Democrat, I’m not a Republican. I observe both parties as the scum that they are.”

For five consecutive years the media has tried to fill its news voids by preying on the fears of the elderly with catastrophic bird flu headlines – and they’re at it again. Now, just like we were trained to panic at the sight of Asian people wearing facemasks during the SARS outbreak, we freak at the sight of a dead bird. With these scares also comes a conservative lining that manipulates the masses to fear foreign peoples. China was the scapegoat for SARS, Africa was blamed for AIDS, Mad Cow disease associated with England and the press is linking bird flu to Japan, which aim to exacerbate stereotypes conservatives harbor toward foreigners. There’s nothing wrong with being proactive but to panic over a disease that impacts humans who handle chicken shit is egregious. Just like the ‘killer’ bees of Mexico never came, bird flu outbreaks won’t either. But should it strike, don’t worry. The media has a solution: wash your hands frequently (which I hope we all do already) and stock up our pantries for the end of the world (i.e. consume, consume, consume).