A BAD INFLUENCE

America has become too celebrity-obsessed. That obsession is reflecting in ways, detrimentally, out-of-whack with what the nation was founded on; was intended and expected to, become. The entertainment industry has so bedazzled much of the nation, in an influential way it might near be considered a branch of government. The most ill-informed of celebrities are--as a matter of routine--given platforms from which they, publicly, make incredibly ill-reasoned, narrow-minded, and stupid pronouncements. Owing to the broad influence they command, because of popularity, their remarks--no matter how ignorant--are enthusiastically given unquestioned credence by their most ardent, fanatic-like, devotees. This becomes, extraordinarily, dangerous to a society, whose citizens have constitutionally guaranteed them, the right to vote. To a great degree, this explains how it so happens we find many bizarre, nondescript, characters holding local, state, and federal elected offices. It too explains how habits and practices, decades ago thought too outrageous for even consideration, are now commonplace.