No More Heroes

I wish I could be enthralled by a presidents speech. I wish I could look at a sports star and not wonder about how many millions they are getting paid and what kind of drugs they are on. I long for a musician to come along in the mainstream who hasn't been chewed up, processed, brainwashed, and spit back out by recording industries to make a quick buck. I'm left wishing and hoping, though, in a time of mass production and mass consumption of trash.

There was a time where even pop artist could have a song which had some semblance of feeling and heart. Today, every "artist" sounds exactly the same as though they all came shooting off of the same fast food assembly line. Christina Spears. N'Sync Street. Nicklecreed. It's all the same trite shit.

Although politicians were never truly liked, at least some of them had charisma and drive. Try to think back and find another president who spoke below a fifth grade level, as our grand master so eloquently does. I'm willing to bet that William Henry Harrison's inauguration speech wasn't as dull and painful to listen to as some of Bush's beautiful displays of the English language are.

Joe DiMaggio, in his last year with the Yankees (1951), earned a salary of $100,000. Factor in the inflation from 1951 until now and his salary would be a staggering $810,000. Today, the average salary for a professional athlete is around $2.9 million. Even the lowest players receive salaries of $300,000 or more (a generous earning for second or even third rate players).

So where are the heroes of today? Are there any or, more importantly, does anyone actually care? Is everyone so enthralled in their reality TV shows and puppet news casts that they don't notice the lack of substance? I'd just like to think they are numbing themselves, waiting for something.