I'm reading about halfway down, and despite the tone of hyperventilation, the wit and historical clarification are carrying me along. Then I get to this touchstone, an orbiting asteroid of a thought on FR, that comes around again and again. It mentions these TV shows as if to imply that Americans do not think enough about politics.
I'm not a follower of Hollywood or the reality shows, but inasmuch as large swathes of the airwaves and cables are given profitably over to conservative political talk—of which I am one of the greatest fans—I don't think it could be said that our country is deficient in political awareness. We are in a cultural crisis and civil war against domestic Stalinists, so our current ideological obsessions are understandable, but I certainly hope that as a nation, we can still leave a little room for trashy entertainment, or even good entertainment.
When more teens know who Lady Gaga is, than George Washington, we’ve got a problem.