Charlie Sheen - is this a real story or a distraction?

[hedgehog]

Is it just a coincidence that Charlie Sheen hits the front page as the confrontation in Madison heats up? We always have a celebrity in the midst of a meltdown. It's hard for me to say whether Charlie's meltdown is more spectacular than those of Britney. Mel or Lindsay. Still, it's an awfully convenient distraction.

[no_hypocrisy]

1. LiLo is so yesterday . . . .

[MorningGlow]

2. Honestly? It's laziness

I speak as someone who spent several years working at a TV news station, and I can say with confidence that it's just easier for "journalists" to glom onto a celebrity-flameout story and get cheap ratings than devote time and energy to a complicated topic that requires thoughtful coverage.

[Courtesy Flush]

3. I have to admit total ignorance here.

I keep hearing his name mentioned this week, but just like the OP on this thread, there's always the assumption that we all know why he's in the news.

What happened with him?

[elias49]

4. Nothing. Go back to sleep.

It's one thing to be disgusted with celebrity 'news'
It's another to pretend you have no clue. That you're above all that crap.
Good grief.

[think4yourself]

6. Courtesy Flush

I ALSO had no clue and had to look it up. I'm in London for a year so I'm out of the loop.
He did a TV interview for CBS and was really manic and most likely on drugs. He said some very
bizarre things and it's like a sad car crash.
I think it's a combination of all the things mentioned here. It's cheap and shiny and voyeuristic as opposed
to serious, heavy, thoughtful issues.

I must say I'm really appreciative of the British media and ESPECIALLY Al Jazeera.

[Courtesy Flush]

11. Thank you.

A civil reply was all I needed.

[Courtesy Flush]

10. Screw you. I really had no idea.

Do you really think we all hang on celebrities? I'm 51 years old, and don't give a shit what they do.

[devilgrrl]

22. I've been blowing it off too

Now that I know, I still don't know what is going on or care.

[Swede]

5. I think you need to relayer your tinfoil hat.

Some signal is getting through.

[Fuzz]

7. It's a real distraction.

[bullwinkle428]

8. I'm trying to make my life a Sheen-free zone, but Lawrence O'Donnell

unfortunately aired segments featuring him, two nights in a row on his show. :banghead:

[valerief]

21. I know. WTF is that all about? Has he been threatened with cancellation if he doesn't

do Sheen segments or is he Huffpoing by choice?

[pintobean]

9. Here's how real it is.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhgWRTr3oIg

[SidDithers]

12. Charlie planned his psychotic break to overshadow the protests in Madison...

'cause he's a huge supporter of Gov Walker.

Sid

[pintobean]

13. +1 lol n/t

[Uncle Joe]

14. I believe it's a little of both, he's the flavor of the month, in time some

other high brow Jerry Springer story will take his place.

But the motivation is to distract the American Peoples' attention from the critical issues of the day, today the happenings in Madison and abroad are such issues, but those critical issues will also change.

The point being, this is just part of the continual corporate media dumbing down process, they don't want the American People to be too aware, lest the corporate stranglehold on the people and by extension "We the People's" government be realized.

Thanks for the thread, hedgehog.

[hedgehog]

15. I'm not really sure myself why Sheen is all of a sudden a hot topic;

I had the idea he'd bee circling the drain for a long time. There really are a lot of celebrities out there I can't identify. I look at the magazine rack at the grocery store and can't name anyone except Angelina.

I think it's a lot of what was said above about media companies not being willing to hire people to go out and actually report news. Look how unique Rachel Maddow is. I also have to say that most people seem to be too lazy to follow the news. That's how Reagen got away with Iran-Contra - people just didn't want to invest the time needed to follow the entire scheme.

I still think Charlie's story is getting extra coverage right now. Look how few stations had any time to show all the people demonstrating last week-end across the country.

[Uncle Joe]

17. Several reasons. 1. He's low hanging fruit more than willing to get in front of a camera, the

corporate media knew they could pluck Sheen anytime, sort of like Brittany showing her nether-regions to the world.

2. Probably the most important reason is because of the critical mass building up in Wisconsin, the corporate media needed a distraction, they didn't want the left to become energized by too much publicity for fear it would spread nationwide. If the corporate media covered any part of the recall effort in Wisconsin during their prime-time "News" programs last night, I missed it.

3. NBC and ABC have a more narrow agenda as well feeding their enthusiasm to cover all things Sheen; because he's a CBS star, I don't watch FOX so I couldn't tell you if they're using saturation coverage as well, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were.

I believe the primary emphasis though is the second reason, this is part of the corporate media's standard MO to manipulate the American People in order to further corporate supremacy, just part of the dumbing down process.

Keep in mind, the corporate media's true clients are commercial buying corporations and not the American People, as a result corporate interests will virtually always reign supreme in the corporate media's thinking and actions.

[yurbud]

16. the real story would be: actor, rock star, or athlete leads drug-free stable family life

and remains married to the same woman until death do they part.

anything else is dog bites man.

[Bucky]

19. Man bites hair of the dog that bit him

[Bucky]

18. It's mawkish celeb gossip, sure, but it's also a public example of what addiction does to someone.

[Uncle Joe]

20. If the corporate media were so concerned about addiction, they wouldn't be pushing drugs for

every ailment under the sun during their prime time news hours.