No longer

With full knowledge of adding to the Michael Jackson blogging deluge, I want to share these trenchant thoughts on what the death of Mr. Jackson really tells us about the people of the United States:

The news media, smelling the money in the water, is full guns devoted to telling the public everything it wants to know about Michael Jackson, and even some things I’m sure we’d rather forget (or maybe they’ll overlook those). But he was just a rock star. He was a singer, dancer, entertainer – and quite extraordinary, to be sure. Yes, he made lots of money, and many young people cried to see his flashing feet. But he was just a pop culture icon, the King of Making Us Feel Good.

How can a man who made his living for 45 years singing and dancing on the stage command so many hours of media coverage? Beats me. Except for this: Michael Jackson’s death shows us something about ourselves which, it seems to me, we ought to consider rather carefully. It’s clear that what matters to Americans is being entertained, feelin’ groovy, havin’ fun, and gettin’ it on.

Let’s face it: we have ceased to be a serious people.

Ouch.