Herbie, Fully Loaded

Today I am reminded once again that I am quite fortunate.
http://www.forkparty.com/woman-run-over-by-her-own-car-twice/
Obviously she was not very kind to her car.  Maybe rode the clutch too much, or seldom washed it.  Whatever she did, that car was pissed.  Also, I was fortunate enough to watch about 10 minutes of "Sarah Palin's Alaska" the other night.  I can safely say that it is one of the worst TV shows ever.  It seems to me to be thinly veiled political rhetoric.  Basically a campaign ad that runs weekly on TLC Sunday nights at 9/8 central.  Really the only redeeming quality is the irony of it being aired on a channel called "The Learning Channel".  I literally felt stupider after watching this pointless dribble.  It really is quite remarkable that a woman who supported aerial hunting of wolves and ran with a mantra of "Drill baby drill" can actually be trying to position herself as a proponent of Alaska's majestic and diverse ecosystem.  This is like Strom Thurmond hosting a show on racial equality.  What is amazing is that given the short attention span of most people these days, and the hypnotic control the media has over a huge portion of this country, that concept is not far fetched.  Granted, of course, we find a way to raise his hate-filled corpse from the grave.

It is days like this that I am filled with the urge to join the political fray and see if I can add some sanity to an otherwise insane system.  But my rational mind is telling me that modern politics is a dying sport being supplanted by viral movements and the modern media monster.  A technological David and Goliath.  Lets hope and pray for some biblical consistency and watch the common man topple the monumental force of Fox News, CNN, MSNBC and the like.  Or, more accurately and infinitely more insurmountable, Viacom, GE, NewsCorp, Walt Disney, CBS, and Time Warner.  These six companies control almost everything we see and hear.  Radio, TV, movies, billboards, advertising, newspapers, magazines, websites, books, you name it, they own it, censor it, and edit it to fit the corporate objective.  Not trying to sound like a paranoid conspiracy theorist, but we are feeling ever closer and closer to 1984 or Fahrenheit 451 or whatever dystopian nightmare scares you the most.