American Idol

It is now safe to venture back to the television on Tuesday nights! American Idol has finally wrapped up its season and selected a "winner." I must admit I have only seen about 25 minutes of this show, immediately thereafter I found the sharpest, rustiest object nearby, and proceeded to gouge out my eardrums. Thankfully, the ensuing surgery rendered me deaf for the duration of the show. If only we could render the contestants mute.

I do find the American Idol voting controversy provides a telling glimpse into the minds of the American public. For those of you who are in blissful ignorance, the three supposedly most talented contestants were black females. Despite their alleged superiority they consistently ended up receiving the fewest votes, which are cast by viewers via phone or text messaging. When glaringly less talented non-black contestants kept receiving more votes cries of racism echoed throughout the press, even prompting Elton John to call the process clearly racist.

Meanwhile, the United States Senate does not have a single black Senator. It's 97% white, with one Native American and two Hawaiins. Funny how there is no outrage or press coverage here. When was the last time you saw a major news source focusing on archaic laws striking felons from the voting rolls, even long after they've served their time, or how about the last story you saw focusing on the many attempts by state police and others to intimidate black voters (especially in the Deep South) from showing up at the polls on election day? My guess is not as recently as you've seen in depth analysis over the merits of American Idol's voting system.

It's too bad we'll never be able to get voters to care as much about those running their country as they do about moderately talented teenagers who can belt out sappy songs.