As IF Times

Source: NFL free agent Ryan Russell reveals hes bisexual in letter he calls my truth

In this current era of pervasive self absorption, the word “celebrity” has lost all meaning.  People in societies everywhere have always been fascinated with the lives of those apparently leading more interesting ones than their own.  The rich and powerful to be sure, but also the famous by virtue of their appearances in popular entertainment.

In America, that fascination focused on Hollywood stars beginning in the 40’s and 50’s when actors were credited with the personas they portrayed in their roles. Larger than life characters such as John Wayne, Clark Gable, Bette Davis, Frank Sinatra and Marilyn Monroe and other assorted entertainers of the day provided ample headlines for the common folk just plugging along in their comparatively dull lives. Some may recall a very minor actress named Rula Lenska who did hairspray ads for Alberto VO5, supposedly a celebrity, but whom no one had ever heard of.

To this day, tabloids are still bursting with breathless headlines on the activities of the current crop of “celebrities”.  We’ve long passed the Brad and Angelina stage and have now moved on to various one hit wonders who are having their 15 minutes of fame.  The real outlet for celebrity adulation has moved on to new platforms now that the internet has become as common as wall outlets.  Social media is now the medium for spreading fame and notoriety.  Presumably, the exploits of everyone and anyone can be offered for the world to ogle.  It’s the democratization of fame.  Let’s not kid ourselves, what we are fed is still manipulated by small cabals of influencers; someone always runs to the front of a mob and pretends to lead a parade.  But notionally, we can now be exposed to the banal utterances of anyone who has opposable thumbs.

Now we are free to consume stories like the one in the linked article in which the hero exposes his personal truth to a presumably rapt audience.  No one has heard of the guy before, but he obviously thinks that his revelation is important enough to share with his fan base of 3.  The modern narcissistic selfie culture has made everyone think that their mundane exploits and banal observations are worthy of exposure on par with those with genuine accomplishments.  If a guy gets exposure for finding a cure for snoring, that’s one thing, but to expose your sexual proclivities, your preferred handbag, your recent meal at a chi chi restaurant is to spread spam.

This self delusion of importance has affected every level of society.  Consider the present crop of characters vying for the Democratic Presidential nomination.  It would be impossible for a screenwriter to make up the nutters that constitute the contenders.  Most of them are so deluded in their self importance and abilities that in another time, they would be confined to padded rooms wearing suits with the fancy arms that tie at the back. The idea that any of them have any standing at all speaks volumes about the makeup of the general population that first elected or supports them.  The message is that being a rational person with simple math skills is not really that important in potentially guiding the path of 330 million people.  Apparently being gay, or a skateboarder that fries burgers and changes tires, or a believer in healing crystals, or claiming native heritage, or a member of a visible minority, or a believer in junk science, or having sat in elected office for over 40 years is enough.

You would think that the democratization of information would allow people to make more critical judgments of the world and those around them.  But the opposite has happened.  Instead, people gravitate to those that reflect their own sensibilities and “truths”.  In doing so, they elevate those fringe people who would otherwise just mercifully and harmlessly yell into their own voids.  Fame and the delusion of its importance is a drug that has permeated all of our modern culture.  It allows for confirmation and self aggrandizing on a scale never before seen in history.

If you’re the Queen of Instagram, ie: Kim Kardashian, you may have a coterie of groupies hanging on to your every wardrobe malfunction.

But for all of the other would be celebrities out there, you’re all a bunch of Rula Lenskas.

Source: How the Internet Threatens Democracy – The New York Times

This New York Times article bemoans the universal access to the internet and purports to warn of impending threats to democracy because of such access.  Again, it’s comical that left leaning factions are constantly warning of some existential danger to mankind.  If it’s not famine, it’s disease; if it’s not rising water levels, it’s too much sun; if it’s not white bread, it’s unsaturated fats.

So this guy now thinks that too much information, once lauded as a good thing, is now a danger to democracy. The last paragraph of this whiny article reads:

“…Our politics are vulnerable to nefarious influences — whether of the Kremlin variety or the Breitbart variety — not because our information landscape is open and fluid, but because voters’ perceptions have become untethered from reality. For reasons that are both complex and debatable, very many voters have stopped seeing government as a tool for the production of the common good, and have instead turned to politicians (and others) who at least make them feel good. Thus, the news we consume has become as much about emotion and identity as about facts. That’s where the vulnerability comes in, and its roots are in our politics — not in the internet...”

Oddly, I happen to agree with this premise. But while he laments in thinly veiled terms the gullibility of a public that’s been influenced by ‘nefarious’ sources, if we replace the words Kremlin and Breitbart with NY Times and CNN, the statement is equally valid.  Except that the influence of the Kremlin and Breitbart are just straws to be grasped at, whereas the political bias of the NY Times, CNN and for that matter, the Washington Post, have been on full partisan display for decades.  A recent Washington Times study indicated that fully 88 percent of all news stories on Trump during his first month in office, have been hostile.

For at least the past 8 years, his comment that “voters’ perceptions have become untethered from reality” has been the political norm.  With the support of the media sources named, the entire narrative of what was correct thinking was pushed in a direction that had to come crashing against reality and observable common sense.  In this previous 8 year period, the message was so effectively spun that voters handed their proxies to representatives that couldn’t possibly have achieved public office if there was the most basic IQ test requirement.  As an example, an entire congressional district was represented by someone who thought too many marines on an island would tip it over.

The narratives concerning most everything including civil rights, entitlements, foreign  and domestic policy and most importantly, health care and public finance were championed by people with increasingly obvious credibility issues. What the author bemoans is that the population were able to check reality with alternate information sources that were at odds with what they were being told by their governors and established media.

So now, to the chagrin of the media cabal that held a monopoly over the narrative for 8 years, the momentum has swung the other way.  Suddenly voices that were marginalized have now managed to manifest themselves into a political force to push back. The blame or credit does not lie with the Breitbarts or the Limbaughs of the world.  It lies with the establishment media that tried to push their distorted worldviews to an increasingly skeptical audience.  Again, I happen to agree with the sentiment in the paragraph above: “many voters have stopped seeing government as a tool for the production of the common good“.   That was for the last 8 years…and that’s why Trump is now President.