Our Dumb Viral Video Culture: Christie Celebrates a Football Win and It's a Story

I hate to be That Guy, you know, that guy who sitting in a corner with a cigarette-holder and eyebrow arched up by the black sheen of his creamed aristocratic hair, but, seriously?

Here's my theory: We're talking about this because it is a VIDEO, and it takes no mental or physical effort to watch a video, and because it's very easy to then say "The pretty pictures said this to me" or "The moving colors said that to me."

This is a blow-off story. This is the sort of thing we pretend is a "story" when we don't feel like doing real work and don't feel like thinking real political thoughts.

And that's kind of fine, because, fuck it, we're allowed to blow off shit and and be silly and act like total birdbrains if we want. *

But the trouble is that these news-like entertainment substances are being taken by a lot of people in the media as actual, real news, and "reported on" as such.

The problem isn't that we have these desert-like, high-sugar Fake News Treats; the problem is that they're replacing the actual news.

As a blow-off supplement to real news, sure, whatever. We all like -- nay, we all need -- a good "woman hides a gun in her vagina and tries to smuggle it into prison as she's being booked" story.

Fun, silly stuff. And importantly, that story could never be mistaken as important. No one would ever think his commentary on that story was Real Work or Important Political Thought.

But this nonsense about Chris Christie can be mistaken for real news, for real work, and a lot of people seem determined to mistake it for such. I saw Greta yapping about it with Byron York.

I don't know. I guess TV is for nonsense, and blogs are for nonsense too... but the newspapers will have this "controversy" too, I'm sure.

I just wonder how much Nonsense we are willing to pretend and wink to each other is Real, and if at any point it all becomes pretty indulgent.

Eh, here are two blow-off stories to discuss as well, but I think more interesting: Dylan Byers, "Obama soldier," makes up a silly reason to hoot like an ape about Sharyl Atkisson's lawsuit against the DOJ; and the BBC -- the world's most trusted news source -- informs the public that the North Korean regime is "far right."

* "Birdbrain" is the new go-to invective I'm trying out.

Try it, Birdbrains. You may like it.

Oh, Here's a Non Blow-Off Story: John Thune admits the "Crominbus compromise" -- the idea that we'd fund the government for now, but use the power of the purse in February to block Obama's executive amnesty -- was yet Another Fucking Lie by Government Officials to get us to accept the policies they've decided we're going to accept little by little, lie by lie.

posted by Ace at 08:09 PM

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