Keep Teh Chill’en AWAY!!!

Okay, I know this is pretty much old news, but I didn’t know the hoopla around it was this bad.

On September 8, President Obama had a live speech broadcast across public schools in the US. Now I knew about this, but didn’t see the speech itself. A few days ago, I did look up a transcript of it and read it. The entirety of it is basically the message “Stay in school”. But in a more eloquent and rather inspirational way—-nothing surprising since Obama, unlike his predecessor, has a way with words. Anyways…

People who don’t cotton much to the current president (not that I’m a die-hard fan…I don’t even live in the US, but he does seem to be a vast improvement on Bush) got it into their heads that Obama wanted to broadcast this speech to their little ‘uns to indoctrinate them. Literally indoctrinate them. Like in that one speech he’s going to brainwash these kiddies into adopting his policies and becoming Obama-bots. Brian Fisher (more about him in the paragraph below) was on TV telling parents that it was a prime opportunity for Obama to ask kids if they want good healthcare for everyone and if they cared about the environment—-and obviously they were going to say “yes” and thus ask their parents to support policies pertaining to those topics. OH WOE IS ME!!!! DAH KIDDIES ARE GON’ THINK!!!

I’m serious. I first read comments like that on Fundies Say the Darndest Things, which I didn’t find surprising. While on that site, I checked out a link to Facebook that was for the American Family Association where they were talking about the upcoming speech. They had links to two videos of Brian Fisher, a man who hosts a show called Focal Point, who was urging parents to call their childrens’ principal and ask if they were allowed to opt their kids out of the president’s speech. He even went so far as to say that if the principal said it wasn’t allowed, that it meant that they were going to chain the child to his or her desk and force them to listen to the brainwashing from Dear Leader. (I’m paraphrasing here, but that’s almost literally what he said!)

I swear, I didn’t think Americans could possibly be that stupid. I mean, sure, there are a few who think France is where Australia is,  but not to the point where they believe, with every fiber of their beings, that a president talking to their kids is full-blown brainwashing and indoctrination. One commenter on Facebook even went so far as to say it was like Hitler Youth, only for Obama. Since when did Obama = Hitler? Seriously????!!! Ugh, just watch these two videos of Brian Fisher for yourself—-and then weep for humanity.

Video #1

Video #2

I’d have embedded them, but for some reason it’s not really working. Anyways—-my conclusion is that Mr. Fisher is a bit of a moron and whoever believes his senseless spiel needs a shot of brain cells. Lots and LOTS of ‘em.

To conclude, here’s Obama’s speech. (Not a video, just the transcript). OOOH, THE INDOCTRINATION!!!!

Scary School Speech

Why? What’s the Point?

The TV’s on mute, since I’m not really paying attention to it. (For good reason too.)

BUT!

That celebrity tabloid news show, The Insider, was on. And in between the Internet’s not-fully-loaded pages, I’d stare mindlessly at the screen and skim through the neon yellow headlines blaring silently at me.

Puppy mill secrets!!
Plus-Size Tantrum!!
Live exorcism!!

(I’m paraphrasing here–I don’t think I remember it verbatim).

And, I’m not sure if it was The Insider or some other celebrity news show, but they were apparently advertising this new game show thing called “The Moment of Truth” where they hook you up to a lie-detector and ask you awkward questions in front of your family AND a live studio audience. (As well as everyone in the world with a television, a Nosy Parker attitude and more time than they care to calculate on their hands.)

Now, I’ve thought of this before, but this is the first time I really decide to write about it. Why are these stupid celebrity news shows so damned popular? Look at the headlines! Who the hell cares about any of that? (Except, the puppy mill thing…that can be a pretty heartbreaking issue ’cause some puppy mills really abuse their charges, and it’s disgusting and unfair.)

But they were making this big deal out of this ‘plus-sized’ black woman who was yelling at someone with every fiber of her being. She was so near to beating someone down that she had to be restrained. Like I mentioned, the sound was off, so I don’t know what the whole thing was about. Moreover, I couldn’t read the Arabic subtitles fast enough. (I can read at some level, just not quickly). The thing is, so what?! The lady was angry and she was big. Why does that have to be on national television like it’s some kind of breaking news? What good does it do to anyone? She wasn’t even famous or else they would have mentioned a name, and I didn’t catch anything. All I was able to gather was that she was overweight and angrier than a nest full of hornets. Why does anyone need to see that? What does it add to someone’s life? Nothing! Big fat zilch, basically. Just a fat, furious woman. Big whoop.

The same goes for that weird live exorcism. Like, let’s stare at this dude getting the Bible chanted at him while he fights some sort of demon that may or may not even be there. It’s like putting on a spectacle for people to stare and drool mindlessly at. I mean, if the guy is truly possessed (which I doubt) then would he really want it to be made a spectacle of? And if he does, then that just goes to show where his values lie. (Yes, I’ve had personal contact with Satan! Now’s my chance for my 15 minutes of fame!) And, if he doesn’t, that’s even worse. The things people would do to get on TV…sheesh!

And as for that “Moment of Truth” show…it’s almost worse than Jerry Springer. Why would people even volunteer to be on that show in the first friggin’ place? Why? Why the hell would you want to come onstage, in front of God and everyone, and air out your dirty laundry? It’s stupid and it’s a weird whining for attention that makes me want to take a gun to someone’s face. Why does the public feel a need to probe into people’s secrets? And why do people even volunteer?! Seriously, I don’t know what’s worse, the people on the show or the idiots who watch it. What made me angry was how they marketed the program–talking about the ‘EXPOSING’ of SECRETS as if it’s something that only the CIA has been privy to before. And what were some of the questions? “When you were an underwear model, did you ever stuff your underwear?”, or how about this lovely gem, “Did you ever wish you were born into someone else’s family?”

The first question gives no value to anyone–it’s just meant to embarrass. And the second one is asked only to stir up hard feelings. And these ’secrets’ do nothing except give nosy people something to talk about at the water cooler.

Blargh…TV sucks.

And I hate that even I, as much as it disgusts me, get sucked into it too. But sometimes, I need something brainless to watch. Celebrity TV shows fill that need quite nicely.

Mmmm…hm…

There are four things that I could stare at all day and probably never get bored:

Babies.
Baby animals.
Animals in general.
Children.

Like I could just sit down with a bunch of kittens and have them jump all over me and snuggle into my lap and I’d be the happiest person in the world. Or watch kids play around and interact with one another…I love to just sit and observe, taking it all in.

Come to think of it, I dreamed about kittens last night.

Anyways….yeah. Just a thought.