My biggest guilty pleasure is American Idol.  I love it.  There’s something about watching how the contestants react to the competition that gets me.  Some crumble and fall apart, like Didi Benami, who just never put together a solid performance during the live shows.  Others, like Tim Urban, are so clueless and untalented, they don’t even realize the magnitude of the opportunity.  How that dude has made it into the top nine baffles me.  By far, he is the least talented and least entertaining of the twelve.

Then, there are those who rise to the occasion.  Every time she takes the stage, Crystal Bowersox delivers.  The power and beauty of her voice are so natural and effortless that I’m nearly moved to tears during each performance.  Lee Dewyze has won me over with his willingness to listen to criticism and push himself as a performer.  Siobhan Magnus has an amazing voice, but she needs to break out of this one-trick pony show she’s fallen into.  Michael Lynche brings it every single performance.  I don’t particularly like the tone of his voice, but the dude can flat out sing.  My personal favorite is Andrew Garcia.  I just love the sound of his voice.  There’s a unique tone to it that has an undercurrent of sadness that moves me.  He probably won’t win the contest, but I’m hopeful that he’ll have a strong career.

I’m sick of Ryan Seacrest.  I’d like to see Simon reach up and slap the dog shit out of him the next time he does that poodle yapping stuff in Simon’s face.  I’m not sure if Seacrest has just gotten brazen since it’s Simon’s last season, or if the producers think that’s good for ratings, or if he’s developed a coke habit that’s turned him into an obnoxious asshole, but after the first time, the act got old.

Speaking of Simon, he’s a great example of how the precious butterfly syndrome has turned us into a nation of wimps.  The audience boos him whenever he offers any criticism to the contestants.  Most of the time he’s correct, and most of the time he’s being constructive, trying to show the contestants what they need to do to improve as singers and performers, but because he isn’t telling them what wonderful, unique snowflakes they are, the audience boos him.  Sure, he has said some nasty things during some of the auditions, but he rarely says anything that isn’t true.  People who can’t sing shouldn’t delude themselves into thinking that they can make a living at it.  Sometimes, they need to hear an ugly truth to bring them back to reality.  On the live shows, his comments are almost always geared to pointing out weak points in a performance.  We learn and grow from our mistakes, and Simon isn’t afraid to point out those mistakes because that’s his job.

So that’s my guilty pleasure.  I’m sure somewhere the last cool club that still had me as a member just shredded my card, but I can’t help myself.  It’s a fun show.

Perhaps my brain is too small to process the information.  Perhaps I’ve been brainwashed by the Jew-run liberal media.  Perhaps my lack of faith in deus ex machina as the solution to our ills prevents me from seeing the long-term wisdom, but I do not comprehend the irrational fear and hate being spread by the right-wing militia groups.  Are they simply upset that an African-American is in the White House?  Are they terrified that white-skinned people are no longer the dominant majority?  Are they just bloodthirsty radicals who need to shoot their guns?

On a rational level, the obvious question is where was their moral outrage over big government intrusion when the Patriot Act became law.  Why weren’t they actively plotting to attack government officials then?  It seems hypocritical to endorse certain forms of government intrusion, such as internal spying or sanctioned religious ideology, but then to reject other forms simply because they come from a different viewpoint.  Government intrusion is government intrusion.  Of course, radicals rarely care to look at things rationally.  Emotional battlecries  and menacing rhetoric fit more closely to the Tea Party way of doing things.

What bothers me about this is that it undermines the rule of law.  I’m not so naive as to think our system is perfect.  Yes, a lot of things need work.  There are a lot of corruption and inefficiencies plaguing our nation, and if we are to survive and regain our footing as a world leader, we will have to rectify those issues, but our way of life is about settling issues peacefully, through debate and deliberation.  The Tea Party militias behave like spoiled toddlers.  They didn’t get their way, so now they’re throwing a fit.  Nevermind that Mr. Obama was elected legally by a fairly significant landslide.  They didn’t get their way legally, so now they’ll bully, threaten, and coerce until they are either get their way or are imprisoned.  Guess which one is more likely?

Not all Conservatives are right-wing nuts.  Many respect the laws of this land and abide by them faithfully.  Many adhere to the principals that if you don’t like the outcome of an election, work harder to win the next one.  That’s what happened in 1994.  I didn’t like the Contract on America, but I respect that it was born from a sincere grass-roots effort to change the government legally, and I also concede that the balance between that conservative Congress and the moderate White House are what led to the most prosperous economy the world has ever known.  That’s how things should change.

I will not lie.  This wave of irrational fear and hatred scares me.  Irrational hate is what spawned the Holocaust, and while I don’t believe the Tea Partiers represent enough of a threat to reach that level of power, I do believe they are organized enough and crazy enough to do some serious damage before they are put down.  If you are someone who is letting the fear and paranoia they are spreading creep into your consciousness, look out your window.  There are no tanks in our streets, and other than the Tea Partiers, no armed troops forcing order.  The economy is chugging back to life.  Our system is still intact, and in the words of FDR, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”  That’s true today more than ever.

Anyone who saw my status updates last night knows that I suffered through a viewing of New Moon, and I came away from it feeling rather depressed about my own career.  That was one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen, and from the little bit of the books I’ve read, the writing in the series isn’t any better.  Yet that writer and a couple of generations of her offspring are financially set for life.  The director, cinematographer, special effects coordinator, and most everyone else associated with it are at the very least set in their careers.  If nothing else, they can make their rounds on the Con circuit and earn a fortune off of memorabilia.

But the movie, from beginning to end, was really, really, really bad.

I’m a storyteller, so that’s one of the first things I look for in anything I read or watch — does the plot maintain integrity throughout?  I’m not going to re-watch it to find all of the inconsistencies in the story, but on first viewing, there were many and they were glaring.  I also appreciate good acting, and one or two of the kids did decent jobs, but overall, the acting was terrible.  Of course, the dialogue was so poorly written that Kevin Spacey and Anthony Hopkins would’ve had difficult times making it sound realistic.

I know I’m not the first struggling artist to lament the decline of Western culture, but my god.  How have so many people been suckered into thinking that this is good by any standards?  Have we been that dumbed down in the last 20 years?  Was I wrong to think that plot structure and coherence actually matter?  It’s really disheartening for someone like me who has spent 37 years trying to master a craft but getting very little return for my efforts to see such a pile of horse manure make so much fucking money.  Earning a decent living would be enough for me, but while that pile of crap makes a fortune, I can’t seem to turn the corner.

I know this has been pretty negative, and I know I shouldn’t begrudge others their success.  I’m sure the author, whatever the hell her name is, poured all of her heart and soul into creating these books.  I know how hard that process is, and bless her for finding success in the world.  Maybe I need to find a way to make dwarves sparkle like rubies to catch the attention of this generation.  I truly fear where we’ll be in another 20 years.

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