Life on the Outside

Last night I attended a business dinner that was, as I had expected it be, generally boring. The one exception to this being a conversation I had with Caroline Creager, owner of the Berthoud Athletic Club, and former classmate of vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

Creager had just come from filming at the Fox News channel in Denver for an upcoming program to air this weekend.  The show will feature a couple of political experts, along with people who knew Palin and other guests (I’m not sure who).  What I found particularly interesting, or rather disappointing, was this.  When one of the assistants or producers or whomever contacted Creager, they were unfortunately more interested in discussing the recent interest in Palin’s glasses rather than what she was like growing up, what her interests were, etc.

Apparently, since Palin’s recent arrival “on the scene,” there has been such an interest in her overpriced specs that they’ve become impossible to find at Cherry Creek mall.  Check out this blog on the L.A. Times website.

Sarah Palin eyewear

Anyone who has a compulsion to spend $400 to $700 on a pair of librarian glasses clearly has too much money to spend. I’ll just stick with the ones I got from Walgreens that are just as librarian looking and save the hundreds of dollars (so I can spend it on whatever new electronic gadget I just have to have).  I believe there’s also speculation. or just rumor, that the glasses are actually fake and are just for image. No! I can’t believe it!  A politician adopting an image strictly for the purpose of garnering votes?! Say it isn’t so.

Sadly, I wasn’t surprised by mainstream media’s focus on the least important aspect of Palin’s candidacy. Regardless of the outcome, this year’s election will be historic. We will either have a black president or a woman vice-president.  Either result will change our country forever.  But all that has shamefully taken a back seat to what Michelle Obama will wear to the inaugural ball or Palin’s former life as a beauty queen.

What did surprise me was to find someone on the “inside” of the media hype to be genuinely interested in this fluff.  I had thought media insiders were genuinely interested in the important issues but just bowing down to the corporatization of their industry. To find even insiders oblivious and misdirected was disappointing.

And while I may think I know more about the candidates, I need to remember that most of my information is spoon fed to me by the corporate media giants and should be viewed with the doubt and suspicion it deserves.

Thankfully, organizations like Project Vote Smart offer concise, well researched, and in-depth information on the candidates, their positions and views and a look at their campaign finances. I encourage all voters, Democrat or Republican, young or old, left-wing or right-wing – to get informed and get educated about their candidate before pulling that lever.  After all, my future is counting on it.

Project Vote Smart