Politics Daily
Inside Politics Daily
Suraya Pakzad and the Long, Tough Fight for Afghan Women
Maple Leaf Cool? Get Used to It, Please
Move to Kill Filibuster Gaining Steam Among Democrats
Abuse Scandals Draw Uncomfortably Close to the Pope
Obama's So-Called Narrative Problem: There's More to That Story
A Same-Old GOP Budget: Rich Pay Less, Everyone Else Pays More
Karl Rove Has a Good Book in Him, but This One Isn't It
The Washington Pressure Cooker: If You Can't Take It, It's Time to Go- Latino Leaders Impatient With Obama After Promises on Immigration
Politics Daily Book Club: Is That Bob Woodward in 'The Room and the Chair'?
Will the War in Iraq Ever Go Away?
Whos' the Leading Man? It Ain't Rahm or Ax.
Do the Clowns and Cut-Ups Win?
Walking through the White House's East Gate uninvited may not be as bad as climbing over the fence, but even if what Michaele and Tareq Salahi did by inviting themselves into last week's state dinner turns out to be legal, here's my question: When did our societal standards dip so low that anything on the right side of the law is OK? Doesn't it matter any more that what the Virginia socialites did is distasteful, as Judy Howard Ellis has written? Or mean-spirited?Apparently not. Because while the professional poseurs reportedly shop their story to the highest bidder, their caper will have serious consequences -- even if not for them. Secret Service agents will no doubt lose jobs. Barack Obama's White House has been embarrassed -- not by politics but by a couple of alleged party crashers. And worst, the nation's attention is riveted by a sideshow when the drama of our time is what happens to our troops in Afghanistan. That, folks, is as real as reality TV gets. About the only good thing to come of the experience is that White House security will tighten up a few notches.
When I found myself at a post-Thanksgiving dinner with a psychiatrist and asked what she thought lay behind the Salahis' exploits, she called it a classic case of narcissism. The difference is that before reality TV, narcissists were the people we hoped not to be seated next to at the Thanksgiving table. Now, thanks to the democratization of technology otherwise known as reality TV, all of us, in effect, sat next to the Salahis. They certainly dominated the conversation at our holiday gathering -- and beyond.
In the end, the poet who came to dinner said it best, as poets often do: "We have reached the end of shame in our culture." Whereas the possibility of being publicly humiliated went a long way to check people's bad impulses back in the day, now the more outlandish a person's behavior, the bigger celebrity he or she has the chance of becoming.
It's impractical for us to go back to the public stockade. Remember how when we were in school and the teacher yelled not just at the class cut-ups but anyone who laughed at them? That's us.
PD toolbar!
and download the new Politics Daily toolbar!
-
PRINT
-
IM
-
E-mail
3 comments
+ add your own
Linda Kulman
Linda Kulman, who covers education for PoliticsDaily.com, is a former senior writer for U.S. News and World Report... more
Comments (3)
Cooper
1:27PM Nov 30th 2009
Linda, I couldn't agree more with everything you say except your assertion that we are forced to put up with this crap. We aren't. I spent my entire weekend blissfully unaware that the Kahuli's (or whatever the hell their name is) even existed. I heard something about it on the radio driving home last night, but that was all until I got to work. Then, it was a briefly touched upon subject in an otherwise routine conversation. Idiots only become celebrities to people who accept them as such. Granted, a WHOLE bunch of people in this country seem starved for ever more moronic celebs; their appetite for stupidity will always be fed. But, you and I don't have to bite. Perhaps you just need to find some new friends. . .
RATE THIS COMMENT:
(1)
(1) 
Tawny Jones
5:03PM Nov 30th 2009
Clowns & cut-ups? who else attended Obama's "State Dinner"? It looked like the geek show at a county fair.
RATE THIS COMMENT:
(0)
(0) Charles Carter
6:48PM Nov 30th 2009
Actually, Michaele and Tareq Salahi provided a public service by exposing a gap in the protection of our president. Obama must have been getting Liberals for his White House secret service. That would explain the ineptness.
RATE THIS COMMENT: (1)
(1) 
Woman Up on Facebook
Now Commenting
- igreen2115 on:
Christian Leader Calls for Glenn Beck Boycott Over 'Social Justice' Comments - cashman5453 on:
Harry Reid's Wife and Daughter in Serious Car Accident - dustindustrial20 on:
Christian Leader Calls for Glenn Beck Boycott Over 'Social Justice' Comments - Dave on:
Obama Donates $1.4 Million Nobel Prize To Charities - moderate on:
Harry Reid's Wife and Daughter in Serious Car Accident - igreen2115 on:
Christian Leader Calls for Glenn Beck Boycott Over 'Social Justice' Comments
Submit Your Favorite Links
No.
Props
Props
- 35
- 26
- 24
- 23
- 12
- 19
Follow Politics Daily
Other News
- Pakistan interrogation center bombed, killing 12
- Massa accuses Emanuel, others of setting him up
- Iraq awaits election results, parties claim gains
- Earthquake flattens Turkish villages, kills 51
- Liz Cheney wants to save torture's good name (and her dad's)
- GOP: Obama Must Sign Health Measure Before Reconciliation
- Uproar Over Whale Sushi Just Ridiculous
- NYC Will Pay Sick Ground Zero Workers $657M
- Stars on Ice: Skater Weir 'Not Family Friendly'
- Harry Reid's Wife, Daughter Injured in Crash
- The Twisted Mind of Marcel Dzama
- The World's Funniest Art
- The Best of Brit Lit
- Cool, Dead, and Stuffed
- The Vatican Sex Conspiracy
- FBI Probes N.J. Man Linked to Al Qaeda, Yemen Attack
- ACORN Fraud Ignored?
- Doubts Raised on Obama Tax Pledge
- ROTC Enrollment on the Rise
- Mexico's Slim Becomes 'World's Richest' Person
Politics Daily More Links