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RedditI have a not -so- secret addiction. American Idol. My colleagues know I've watched every week, all of 19, checking out all of the theme nights --with my Motown hero Smokey Robinson, rocker Bon Jovi, country singer Martina McBride, Tony Bennett, and the two evenings which raised more than $70 million to end poverty in Africa and at home.
And I confess I was one of millions who got caught up in the Sanjaya phenomenon--fascinated by how he snubbed Idol conventions and flaunted his notorious Mohowk updo,amused by Howard Stern's silly campaign to use Sanjaya to discredit Idol, and the sweet taunting of Simon Cowell. He became an emblem of something--a desire for something less formulaic, more in-your-face, in a winner-take-all culture. And maybe Sanjaya's success exposed how mediocrity, with a dose of flash, rises to the top--in our culture as well as politics.
As conventional wisdom has it, the finale came down to the singer vs. the entertainer, 17-year old Jordin Sparks vs beatboxing 20-something Blake Lewis. A record 74 million voted. (By the way, who's making the big bucks off of the text-voting?) But to dissent from conventional wisdom, I think Jordin Sparks won not only because she's a talented singer, the youngest-ever finalist and winner, but she is a woman who represents the demographic and geographic future of this country. Her mother is white, her father is African-American. (I know this differs from Obama's multiracial background, but the parallels are there.) And breaking tradition--unlike all previous Idol winners, Jordin doesn't come from the South. Instead, she's from Glendale, a large suburb of Phoenix, Arizona--that Southwest region which has become the repository of political hopes for those seeking to break the GOP's grip on our politics. I'm pushing this, I know. But, hell, the Idol season is over --so why not?
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Katrina vanden Heuvel
Thoughts on politics, current affairs, riffs and reflections on what’s in the news and what’s not--but should be.
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Okay....apparently this is the day for "post it, get 5-7 comments, then re-post it again and wipe the comments"....try again....
"I think Jordin Sparks won not only because she's a talented singer, the youngest-ever finalist and winner, but she is a woman who represents the demographic and geographic future of this country. Her mother is white, her father is African-American. (I know this differs from Obama's multiracial background, but the parallels are there.) And breaking tradition--unlike all previous Idol winners, Jordin doesn't come from the South. Instead, she's from Glendale, a large suburb of Phoenix, Arizona--that Southwest region which has become the repository of political hopes for those seeking to break the GOP's grip on our politics. I'm pushing this, I know"
Yes, you are, Ms vanden Heuval. Sparks represents something?!?!?
It's a stupid singing contest. And (as I said before) I hope for your sake that she doesn't turn out to be one of the new "South Park conservative" kids and she sings the National Anthem at the 2008 GOP Convention!
Posted by Mask at 05/24/2007 @ 10:06am
she is a woman who represents the demographic and geographic future of this country
It's not at all unlikely that this was one of many appealing factors working for Jordin. After all, advertising agencies have heavily featured biracial models in print ads & TV commercial spots for years, now.
Posted by tohubohu at 05/24/2007 @ 11:00am
The "debate" on the Iraq supplemental to sacrifice our troops --thanks Ms. Flanders for this long overdue and accurate characterization-- is underway.
I urge everyone to make a quick phone call to your representative and tell them to vote NO on this disgraceful bill, or be prepared to get tossed out in the next primary or election.
Capitol switchboard #: 202-224-3121
You can watch streaming video of the sausage making at cspan.org
Posted by b_kool_66 at 05/24/2007 @ 11:02am
I agree with Frei about the future, ....
...but only if we insist that the young attend schools in order to keep up our scientific and engineering prowess...and not all major in ethnic, feminist, or multicultural studies majors, where the demand is few notches lower than roofers, lawn mowers and 15 min oil changes attendants. We need real educations for real future jobs for a real successful future...or learn Chinese or Hindu, with a spanish accent....we have e3nough Wills and MT to last 2 geberations...educated in something that they can't use to feed themselves or make a real contribution...or end up demanding to be part of an outdated union where they can't be fired from doing whatever it is that no one wants or needs...
Posted by john maasch at 05/24/2007 @ 12:19pm
Yeah, yeah, yeah, we should all go to school just to learn how to make money, then we can all be morons like the old lying bald coward. Forget knowledge, truth. Just concentrate on that dollar. Ignorance, afterall, is true bliss, right, old man?
Posted by mtspence05 at 05/24/2007 @ 12:43pm
Posted by JOHN MAASCH 05/24/2007 @ 12:19pm | ignore this person
In other words, let's start cloning MAASCH and the world will be groovy - and boring as all hell...
Posted by chimichenga at 05/24/2007 @ 12:50pm
Posted by CHIMICHENGA 05/24/2007 @ 12:50pm
Hey, CHIMI....missed you. Was hoping you'd pop in in a little discussion me and MTSPENCE were having about Cuba and reiterate this statement--
"I DON'T SUPPORT FIDEL CASTRO OR CUBA. What is more, I WOULD SUPPORT A US INVASION OF CUBA IN ORDER TO TAKE OUT FIDEL AND TRULY LIBERATE THE 11 MILLION PEOPLE SUFFERING UNDER HIS REGIME."
Posted by CHIMICHENGA 12/20/2006 @ 2:07pm
Posted by Mask at 05/24/2007 @ 1:20pm
Back on-topic, also a little curious about THIS bit of racial prognostication by Ms vanden Heuvel...
"but she is a woman who represents the demographic and geographic future of this country. Her mother is white, her father is African-American."
I thought the demographic future of this country was "Latinos being 40% of the population by 2050"? Why does Ms vanden Heuvel think that half-European/half-African-Americans represent THAT?!?!?
Posted by Mask at 05/24/2007 @ 1:30pm
Posted by FREIHEIT 05/24/2007 @ 1:23pm
Hey, FREI...don't even get Empty Spence started on....
bald homosexuals!
hehe
Posted by Mask at 05/24/2007 @ 1:31pm
Thanks for this "Assault on Reason!" C'mon, Katrina. My God, didn't you read Gore's piece? He's the new favorite here at The Nation, right? There's nothing else going on in the world today? Nothing interesting happening in Iran?... Russia?... Romania?... Lebanon? I've got read the editor of this journal writing about American Freakin'Idol?!?! This is why this journal, whether online or in print, has been unable to acquire the prestige of great publications like The New York Review of Books, Boston Review, or The London Review of Books. They're written for grown-ups; The Nation often devolves into an adolescent irrelevence, written for the angst-ridden and self-important.
Posted by Disinterested at 05/24/2007 @ 1:52pm
The Nation often devolves into an adolescent irrelevence, written for the angst-ridden and self-important.
Posted by DISINTERESTED 05/24/2007 @ 1:52pm | ignore this person
Clearly you don't understand.
Katrina knows that a 5 cent raise in the price of postage will tank her readership unless she makes massive revisions to content.
Hence, The Nation will now feature pop idols on the cover, gossip columns (which will be slightly different from the usual Huffington post rip-offs they run now as news/analysis), and a celebrity birthday section.
So, American Idol it is. Katrina, this is actually one of the most informative pieces you have written in months, and clearly the most relevant. Because of you, I am going to start watching the entire season of Idol, rather than just the first couple of episodes to catch all of the embarrassments.
Congratulations on the new format for The Nation, I think it will be a huge success.
Posted by WallStreet at 05/24/2007 @ 2:01pm
Oh, Katrina. Quick Question...
Are you saying that Barak Obama is nothing more than than a half Black Pop wanna-be idolic singer that appears on TV to merely entertain people with no political substance what-so-ever?
Ouch.
I hope you don't think that all people that fit the "demographic" are hollow like this.
I bet if you met either Barak or Jordin, you would find that they both have some great qualities.
Posted by WallStreet at 05/24/2007 @ 2:05pm
Posted by WALLSTREET 05/24/2007 @ 2:01pm
WALL, I think that's a LITTLE unfair. Ms vanden Heuvel's article is silly (Jordin Sparks has political implications?!?!?), but we're not seeing "The Nation" slide into full-blown "Entertainment Tonight" status by a long shot.
Actually the SILLIEST articles are still the political ones...such as Liza Featherstone's ever-elusive overthrow of Wal-mart by 5000 urban liberals over the desires of 1.5 Million WM shoppers....or John Nichols still dreaming of impeachment (and selling a few books on the subject) as the Democratic Congress SURRENDERS to that supposed target of impeachment (Bush) on the Iraq war funding.
Posted by Mask at 05/24/2007 @ 2:36pm
Posted by FREIHEIT
I take it you're bald too. I'm sorry to hear that. Be a man, don't let it bother you. Afterall, I'm speaking to the old lying bald coward, not you. Just mind your own business.
Posted by mtspence05 at 05/24/2007 @ 3:27pm
In fact, I'm hard-pressed to understand how you could argue with his comments on education. Yes, he's critical of ethnic, feminist, or multicultural studies majors, however he in no way calls for their abolition.
Posted by FREIHEIT
It doesn't sound like you've had the opportunity to enjoy a higher education. (That explains your libertarian fairy tales.) Compare a business major to any liberal arts majors and you will see a drastically different degree plan. Liberal arts is going to give you a broad education; it is going to teach you how to think, how to learn, how to solve problems; and, if you're lucky, it will help you to discover that you know nothing. Business majors? With the exception of the accounting and finance majors, it's like going to a vocational school.
Posted by mtspence05 at 05/24/2007 @ 3:40pm
Just mind your own business.
Posted by MTSPENCE05 05/24/2007 @ 3:27pm
My guess that , like me, Frei, Wall and others, has a business to mind...that maybe part of your problem(and there are many problems in you),...and
No, I don't advocate cloning me or anyone else...maybe Rachel Welch...anyway,..
...education was and remains my point..I believe I stated engineers(no, EMPTY, not the choo-choo),science back grounds, as opposed to say, political science backgrounds, unless of course, your wife owns a magazine from which you can opine to 20-30- people...
Emptys and Wills major in some kind of history or some sort of "studies" where the only demand is to teach on the University level, creating other EMPTY heads filled with ..umeployable knowledge...but alas...tenure, so EMPTY and WILL types are forced in the real world and is reduced to "Super sized today?".."wanna throw your change in the plastic tub for MS?"..only to rush back here and post their real world newly acquire epiphanys through experience..solutions to the nations economic maladies, as they see it...forgetting that they are at entry level and that most 16 years olds understand more than they...the system works fine for the most part...it is ME that has to improve and "shoot a little higher" and think a little deeper..
We need educated young people who are builders, engineers, scientists, researchers....no more unemployeed progressives determined to "fix" the system...by unionising the play ground.
Posted by john maasch at 05/24/2007 @ 3:53pm
"Business majors?"
Employable reaching multiy six figurre incomes..
"Liberal Arts "
Able to accept multi orders from one table in an Italian restaurant..earning up to six hundred pennies and hour.."to teach you how to think, how to learn, how to solve problems;" and how to unionise the plce into a living wage shop...regardsless if customer stop coming in ...
Posted by john maasch at 05/24/2007 @ 3:56pm
Sounds like the old, lying, bald coward has a marketing degree.
Posted by mtspence05 at 05/24/2007 @ 4:09pm
Posted by FREIHEIT
Ahhh, why don't you go cry to your mommy? Poor little baby.
Posted by mtspence05 at 05/24/2007 @ 4:10pm
Sounds like the old, lying, bald coward has a marketing degree.
Posted by MTSPENCE05 05/24/2007 @ 4:09pm
Nope...Chemistry and Biology...one doesn't need a degree in marketing to make money, just common sense...just watch a kid in a lemonade stand..he knows why he is there...
Posted by john maasch at 05/24/2007 @ 4:17pm
Why are you using brackets with parenthical material?
Posted by mtspence05 at 05/24/2007 @ 4:18pm
Freiheit,
Posted by FREIHEIT 05/24/2007 @ 4:16pm
Here,Here...
I would love to buy you dinner or a drink sometime and have an evening loike I did with JR.....where are you..?
Posted by john maasch at 05/24/2007 @ 4:19pm
Oh, that's right, you were trying to be a doctor. I forgot all about that. Just couldn't get into medical school, huh? I know, it's tough. Not everybody can get into medical school.
Kid at a lemonade stand?
And no, it doesn't require a degree to make money. Give a monkey a tin cup, it'll take in some change. Crack whores make money.
Posted by mtspence05 at 05/24/2007 @ 4:21pm
The lecherous old bastard is making his move.
Posted by mtspence05 at 05/24/2007 @ 4:24pm
Give a monkey a tin cup, it'll take in some change. Crack whores make money.
Posted by MTSPENCE05 05/24/2007 @ 4:21pm
Need bannana?
So whats your excuse?...I, me, decided I didn't want to attend either medical or dental school..my choice,...... and I was accepted.....
Posted by john maasch at 05/24/2007 @ 4:26pm
Sure you were, old man. Sure you were.
Posted by mtspence05 at 05/24/2007 @ 4:28pm
Posted by FREIHEIT 05/24/2007 @ 4:26pm |
He does and I am out there all the time...it would be fun...we will drink to "more bright guys" like MT making it easier for everyone else!!!..:)
Posted by john maasch at 05/24/2007 @ 4:29pm
Sure you were, old man. Sure you were.
Posted by MTSPENCE05 05/24/2007 @ 4:28pm
So what's your excuse?
hat was your subject of "higher attainment"...and why didn't it take?
Are you afraid to announce your area of expertise to the 20-30 people here(coward, comes to mind)....as if they have an illusion of your talents?
So, whats your excuse?
Posted by john maasch at 05/24/2007 @ 4:33pm
Ooooh, that really hurts.
Sounds like you two are gonna hook up. Who's gonna be on top? Oh, that's right, the old man is a catcher. I forgot.
Posted by mtspence05 at 05/24/2007 @ 4:34pm
Posted by FREIHEIT 05/24/2007 @ 4:31pm
Or we would become dehydrated from all the tears of laughter..we could read his posts ...out loud!!!
Posted by john maasch at 05/24/2007 @ 4:34pm
My talents? Well, to begin with I can type and spell.
Posted by mtspence05 at 05/24/2007 @ 4:35pm
See, there he is with the gay slams, as if this is something that will cause one to gasp and react in thre same manner....wouldn't you just love to have him in a room with a 300 lb drunk, gay weight lifter or NFL linebacker when he starts in with that lame shit?
Pretty progressive of him to try to hurt people with names when a shortage intellecual prowess is evident.
May be we should respond with, the ever brilliant retort.." I know you are, but what am I"...and stick out the tongue?
Patheic. I w3onder why he is no longer married..
Posted by john maasch at 05/24/2007 @ 4:38pm
My talents? Well, to begin with I can type and spell.
Posted by MTSPENCE05 05/24/2007 @ 4:35pm
So, you have 2 bannans for that..go on...
Posted by john maasch at 05/24/2007 @ 4:38pm
It's not really a "talent" but I do understand that virgins can't have babies.
Posted by mtspence05 at 05/24/2007 @ 4:39pm
Posted by JOHN MAASCH 05/24/2007 @ 4:38pm
Yup, Down the urinal after the first glass..
Posted by john maasch at 05/24/2007 @ 4:40pm
It's not really a "talent" but I do understand that virgins can't have babies.
Posted by MTSPENCE05 05/24/2007 @ 4:39pm
Sure...
but what is your area of study in school?...the school after high school....
Posted by john maasch at 05/24/2007 @ 4:41pm
Don't mess with the bananas. Your wife is gonna get upset.
Posted by mtspence05 at 05/24/2007 @ 4:41pm
When I first started school, at UT down in Austin, I was in Petroleum Land Management for some reason. After the nav I went up to UNT in Denton and studied political science and history.
Posted by mtspence05 at 05/24/2007 @ 4:43pm
"It's not really a "talent" "
Thats true, but the question remains..
...actually 2 questions now..
1. What was you area of advanced study?
2. Whats you excuse?
This is a simple test and it will not be graded on a curve..
Posted by john maasch at 05/24/2007 @ 4:43pm
I'm referring to human virgins, numb nut.
Posted by mtspence05 at 05/24/2007 @ 4:44pm
And did you graduate?
Posted by john maasch at 05/24/2007 @ 4:44pm
No. I took a semester off and never got back. I've got less than thirty hours left.
Posted by mtspence05 at 05/24/2007 @ 4:46pm
So I wasn't far off with the history or poli sci majopr and no demand for that particular field...funny, how did I know that?
Ok you answered.... the first question...part A, anyway, part B deals with completion..did you earn a degree? Did you finish what you started, in other words?
and now number 2
Whats your excuse?
Posted by john maasch at 05/24/2007 @ 4:49pm
For your and any ones sake....finis school...you will improve your lot 10 fold on a variety of levels.
Perhaps we shouldn't continue any more on this tract...I know enough now and how you respond, and why...I will let this go.
Posted by john maasch at 05/24/2007 @ 4:51pm
You probably understood that because I know what I'm talking about and not blowing about of self serving bs out of the other side of my neck.
Posted by mtspence05 at 05/24/2007 @ 4:52pm
You probably understood that because I know what I'm talking about and not blowing about of self serving bs out of the other side of my neck.
Posted by MTSPENCE05 05/24/2007 @ 4:52pm |
No, I don't know that, but I believe, you believe you do..and it has nothing to do with a vigin birth(human, of course).
I have to go.
Posted by john maasch at 05/24/2007 @ 4:54pm
I would love to finish my degree and go on to graduate school. I would love to be an academic. I, however, have a daughter to support, and the costs of college continues to increase. (When I first started back in '84, thirteen hours at UT Austin was less than $300! That was fees and everything [not books or housing, of course].)
Posted by mtspence05 at 05/24/2007 @ 4:55pm
should read virgin....I am the worst at spelling, typing and grammar...sorry.
Posted by john maasch at 05/24/2007 @ 4:55pm
Posted by MTSPENCE05 05/24/2007 @ 4:55pm
This I do understand...completely and I empathize, my alma mader, sent me a letter informing me that I could send my children(2 left at home) for.....about $40k....each...before discount...they are 15 and 16........I threw the letter away.
Posted by john maasch at 05/24/2007 @ 4:59pm
No, I don't know that, but I believe, you believe you do..and it has nothing to do with a vigin birth(human, of course).
I have to go.
Posted by JOHN MAASCH
Uh hu, sure you do. You can't even grasp simple little facts that require no training, education. You bitch and whine about unions, regulations; yet you fail to understand unions, regulations developed in response to very real problems. You don't like unions, regulations? That's fine. But before you can do away with either you must correct the problems that creating the need for them. You don't do that. You just want to pretend that it'll all be hunky dory. Well, it's not. And an objective view of our system would recognize that. It's not rocket science; it is extremely simple, but in order to comprehend this simple little fact you must have some objectivity.
Posted by mtspence05 at 05/24/2007 @ 5:05pm
OK,
I am back for a short while...
I was in a union for a few years..1 and 1/2 half maybe..and I understood why they formed and why they are no longer needed in a post industrial society...and the reasons for their necessity at the turn of the last century is absolute...but part of Detroits probelms today is the union. It is only part, but a big part, as the management should have been leel hauled 15 years ago for giving in to demands without doing the math and for designing shit for carws..Japan and Germany are successful BECAUSE OF EVERYTHING done or not done in Detroit....South Carolina, Indiana, Tenneessee, Alabama, and other states seem to be doing finer in the auto business...
Another question....
1. Why is a union necessary in an industry that have NO competition? Like govt or schools?
Posted by john maasch at 05/24/2007 @ 5:24pm
I don't advocate doing away with regs..but they have unintended consequences that never seem to be fixed..I am for small companies...not big corporations...they become stagnant like big govt.
Posted by john maasch at 05/24/2007 @ 5:26pm
Shit....gotta go again..
Posted by john maasch at 05/24/2007 @ 5:26pm
1. Why is a union necessary in an industry that have NO competition? Like govt or schools?
Posted by JOHN MAASCH
It's called collective bargaining.
It also protects you against arbitrary treatment.
Germany and Japan have a completely different approach to labor.
Posted by mtspence05 at 05/24/2007 @ 5:35pm
I don't advocate doing away with regs..but they have unintended consequences that never seem to be fixed..I am for small companies...not big corporations...they become stagnant like big govt.
Posted by JOHN MAASCH
Of course they do. That's part of deal. And it's sad that businesses cannot be left to regulate themselves, but we've been down that road more than once.
I have all the sympathy in the world for the small business owner. It is a stacked deck. But it corporations that are running the show in this country. You're libertarian approach refuses to acknowledge this. Corporations are the natural progression of capitalism. And then you eventually get monopolies, cartels.
As long as there are employers and employees unions will always be necessary. Sad but true. And it's not always a bad thing. Southwest Airlines, one of the few carriers making a profit, is based over in Dallas. Everyone I know that works for that company loves it. They're union. American car manufacturers would not be having a problem if they could simply design cars that people want to buy. It is a management issue.
Posted by mtspence05 at 05/24/2007 @ 5:43pm
I have to tell you, Ms. Vanden Heuvel, that seeing you devote space to this idiotic topic is almost painful. We haven't seen enough infotainment bastardization of legitimate news outlets in recent years, and The Nation now has to jump on the bandwagon?
Man. Watta an abject, total drag.
Posted by mewsician at 05/24/2007 @ 6:07pm