The stupidity of a rock star

It really pains me to have to do this, especially since The Eagles have been one of my favorite bands for a long time. But, I can no longer compartmentalize and ignore Don Henley's rabid Liberalism and hatred of Conservatives and Conservatism. What follows is an excerpt of an interview Henley did back in September with Peter Crooks of Diablo Magazine.

Crooks: Your song ”Dirty Laundry” made a good point about the cheap theatrics of tabloid media when it came out in 1982/83, just as the great film Network did in 1976—but when you were writing that song, did you envision a future of Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, and Gawker.com, or was the song prescient beyond even your imagination?

DH: The whole news media thing has gotten worse than I ever imagined.

The line between hard news and theater – between solid, unbiased reporting and “info-tainment”—has become blurred, almost to the point of non-existence. Mean-spirited sensationalism is the order of the day on television. Talk radio has made civilized debate nearly impossible. It has seriously damaged our political system by pedaling ratings-driven propaganda and hate speech. As I’ve often said, I think that Rupert Murdoch is the father of this unfortunate trend, which shows no sign of abating. Copycats abound, including once-respectable mainstream news outlets. Add to that the self-appointed “experts”—the culture of amateurs—that has sprung up on the Internet, and you’ve got a whole new paradigm.

The other side of the coin, of course, is that there’s a demand, a hunger out there for this sort of crap, and it doesn’t bode well for the future of American culture. Apparently, there are great numbers of people in this nation who are incapable of thinking for themselves; whose lives are so intellectually barren that they actually have nothing better to do than listen to Rush Limbaugh; people whose lives are so uninteresting that they revel in reports on the latest follies of Paris Hilton or Lindsay Lohan. Not only are we going fiscally bankrupt; we’re going culturally bankrupt, as well. Every man, woman and adolescent in this country should watch the films Network and Being There.

"Apparently there are great numbers in this nation who are incapable of thinking for themselves; whose lives are so intellectually barren that they have nothing better to do than listen to Rush Limbaugh.."

 Am I the only one who notices how the guy who accuses us of being mean-spirited calls us "intellectually barren". Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. That statement alone shows Henley's lack of intellectual acumen. Too much drugs and Satan worship in the 70's perhaps.

Apparently there are even greater numbers of people who are so intellectually barren that they have nothing better than listen to your music and the drek you spew in interviews like this Mr. Henley. I for one, am no longer one of them.

Jim Chitty