Tom DeLay (R- TX) has a problem. No, not the problem about one of his “allies” breaking fundraising law. No, not the ethics violations, or even about the changes to the House Ethics Committee rules. No, not even about how he took his wife and daughter to tour sweatshops and brothels in Saipan, then decided that even though it was a protectorate of the United States he wasn’t going to do anything about what he saw there. No, this problem is not outlined in his copious Wikipedia entry.
His problem is that he was mentioned in passing on a fictional TV crime-drama. A choice quote from the producer of the show in question:
Every week, approximately 100 million people see an episode of the branded ‘Law & Order’ series. Up until today, it was my impression that all of our viewers understood that these shows are works of fiction as is stated in each episode. But I do congratulate Congressman DeLay for switching the spotlight from his own problems to an episode of a TV show.
Mr. Wolf certainly has that assessment right: Mr. Delay would like us to not pay attention to what is going on; he would rather we look not at Congress, but at Hollywood. Which is more relevant to your life? Capitol Hill or Beverly Hills?
It is bad enough that national news attention is being focused on stories of at best regional interest, such as a murder suspect spending a few days on a crane threatening to jump. No, alleged pop-star pedophiles and “runaway brides” are distracting us from closing military bases in a time of “war” and whether or not we are going to send a guy with serious diplomatic problems to be our UN Ambassador. Yes, the news is being dumbed down, and no it’s not just because sleazy-but-irrelevant stories sell. It’s getting harder and harder to get enough actual information about what is going on in the world to develop an independent opinion.
In closing, I bring you “When kitchen knives are outlawed, only outlaws will have kitchen knives,” and — Happy Memorial Day! — this disabled veteran.
