The blind drunk leading the blind AN OUTSIDERS VIEW Ken Fuller 05/04/2010

The blind drunk leading the blind

AN OUTSIDERS VIEW Ken Fuller 05/04/2010 In a piece published in this newspaper over two years ago, this outsider referred to Fox’s American Idol show as “increasingly tired-looking.” Well, it hasn’t perked up over the last two seasons (yes, yes, I still watch the damn thing!), but the edition last April 22 was, for reasons wholly unintended, quite interesting. This featured the annual “Idol Gives Back” item, in which big names (the Obamas kicked off this year’s show) urge viewers to donate to worthy causes in the USA and elsewhere. Simon Cowell (net worth over $250 million and counting), the normally curmudgeonly Brit, visited West Virginia, where a family of six was squeezed into a disintegrating two-room trailer. During the course of the piece, surprise was expressed regarding the horrendous levels of poverty and hunger in the world’s richest country. The really surprising thing is that anyone is surprised, given corporate behavior in the USA since the Reagan years (or, for that matter, in the UK and much of the world since the days of Thatcher). For example, take a look at a couple of the corporate sponsors of “Idol Gives Back.”... MORE   Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100504com5.html

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