Could you turn on the radio or TV without hearing that Prince Harry of England (that would be the son of Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana) wore a costume to a party that included a Nazi arm band?
It had all the enthusiastic following of the latest Scott Peterson development and was about as useful. We are shocked. We are just shocked. Prince Brat demonstrates that he might have a poor sense of humor, might lack knowledge, might have been attempting to make a statement (on what, who knows). Most of all he demonstrates that he leads a life with no expectation of ever being questioned regarding his actions.
And the media's not questioning it. They're just noting it. Repeatedly. Over and over. Prince Brat wore what! We've got photos!
A Winding Road (http://awindingroad.blogspot.com/2005/01/enabling-atmosphere.html) provided more perspective on the issue than the mounds of ink and the incessant chatter of talking heads.
That Prince Brat, a 20 year-old, has done something juvenile and that it may or may not reflect on the environment he's raised in isn't a point anyone wants to take up. Instead, the issue is treated with all the depth of Janet Jackson's exposed breast -- which is to say, we see the same photo over and over and chatting heads compete in the campaign for who can act more indignant.
Want to be indignant? The son of England's former prime minister attempted to aid a coup attempt against Equatorial Guinea. The New York Times reported that. On the same page that they ran the story on Prince Harry. "A Prince Who Forgot History Angers Many" (by Alan Cowell) gets eighteen paragraphs, a photo and top billing. "Thatcher's Son Pleads Guilty in Coup Plot, Avoiding Prison" gets twelve paragraphs, no photo and second billing.
What's the bigger story? Prince Brat or Middle Aged Crook?
Mark Thatcher, son of Margret, is fifty-one years old. Excuse us, "Sir Mark." Sir Mark claims he didn't realize what he was doing -- "unwitting." That's a good adjective for any child of Maggie's but it doesn't mitigate the reality of what he's pleaded guilty to.
One's offensive, Prince Brat, and one's a crime, Sir Crook.
One's covered with all the open mouthed panting usually reserved for the latest Paris Hilton tape, the other's relegated to a conversational aside.
Sir Crook pleaded guilty. Got it? He admitted guilt. Even the title of the article in the New York Times informs a reader of that.
Now granted, Sir Crook looks like he's either had eye work done or else is wearing concealer in most photos (we're split on this issue: two for cosmetic surgery, two for make up and one abstaining) but photos do exist. And when the son of a former prime minister pleads guilty in a criminal case, one would think it would be big news.
That it's not news, that it's drowned out by the coverage of Prince Brat, suggests many things. Friends in high places pay off? Sir Crook, being old and bizarre looking, isn't "hot" enough to interest our media? We're more obsessed with indicated actions than actual criminal
behavior?
Sir Crook admits to participating in an attempted coup and he's on his way back to the United States? Didn't we refuse to let Cat Stevens' feet touch American soil? Exactly what is a terrorist? We think it would be an independent agent attempting to overthrow a government.
We think this is the sort of behavior that perfectly fits into the Bully Boy's term of "enemy combatant." But Sir Crook's on his way back to the United States with little discussion of his actions and apparently no penalties.
Were he to convert and become a Muslim would we be concerned? Is that the only group we target?
Will Victoria Clark leave CNN and get to work on new advertising? "Come to America, we welcome all. Even those who plot to overthrow governments as long as you aren't dark skinned, Arab or Muslim. If you're any of those three, however, even if you haven't attempted to overthrow a government, we suggest you sample Canada instead."
Will any issues be explored at all? Will we debate this or even talk about it? Oh, hold on, word's coming in that Prince Felipe of Spain went to a toga party last night and the toga slipped! Exposing his pene masivo! Do we have pictures! Can we get pictures!