Bill O’Reilly comes to mind. He’s perfect, and I’m not the first person to say this. O’Reilly has a loyal following, many of whom would love to see him run for president. Bill Moyers called O’Reilly a “pugilist” which fits him to a tee. Yep, Bill O’Reilly fits the profile. And Sarah Palin – she totally fits the model with her tough, fast talking, god blessing style.

But seriously, I truly believe that the whole political fracas that’s got everyone glued to their TV News/Email Spam/Op-Ed Columns is really just a glitzy circus designed to distract us from the real issues at hand, namely the rise of the facist state, the gutting of the constitution and the plight of the working class. I truly believe that any candidate that makes it to the top has been bought and put in place by the money that runs our world. As Ralph Nader puts it:

The expense of political campaigns creates a clear advantage for the highest spender. Money dominates the dissemination of campaign messages, mainly waged on television in the form of sound bites. This economic stranglehold of campaigns makes politics a game for only the rich or the richly funded. This silences alternative viewpoints and turns off many voters who do not feel represented by privileged candidates.

Count me among those voters who don’t feel represented by either party.

So yeah, the Republicans look different from the Democrats in the same way Mr. Nasty looks different from Mr. Nice on the All Star Wrestling mat. The Republicans play the role of the big, bad bully while the Democrats get to be nice little pansies. Meanwhile, the politicians who speak to my heart are droned out by the roar of the crowd. Bread and circuses, bread and circuses!

I have not read a news story since last year and generally manage to avoid contact with the media even though we have computer access and an impressive collection of magazines in the lodge. But today I had time to kill. Breakfast was over and I was waiting at the lodge for a guest to return and settle their bill.

I dished up a bowl of beans and rice and settled down on the couch. Feeling like a voyeur, I began to shuffle through the pile of magazines. A recent copy of Newsweek caught my eye and I picked it up.

The first three pages were full-page ads. Only 54 of the 118 pages in the February 14th issue actually held news stories. The other 64 pages were dedicated to advertising, including 8 pages each for prescription drugs and money management and 5 for designer food.

What, exactly is the point, I wondered, of a Light’n Fit CARB CONTROL Smoothie? As far as I could tell, the purpose of this product was to separate insecure people from their money by taking advantage of their phood phobias. Worse, the plastic packaging was designed to load up the landfills with a petroleum-based product. I mean, “Hello – We’re fighting wars for this?!”

It immediately became obvious that years of self-imposed cultural deprivation and real food have ruined my appetite for such disgusting examples of conspicuous consumption. I was so distracted by the hawking of financial and medical services that I was unable to read the news stories about retirement, war, entertainment and so on.  Twas a pity…