MEDIA, 2/7/99: ENTERTAINMENT The media runs the country. I swear! How many times will you see any mention of Clinton/Lewinsky/impeachment when you flip on the tube, or even in print? (Including now. I have no shame!) It's sad enough that we care so much about our president's sex life, and how it affects our country's morality.

Well, take a look around, open your eyes! If you wanted to look at nudie pictures, would you know where to get it? Of COURSE you would! No matter how pristine you think you are, if you wanted it, you could get it.

Anyhow, this whole impeachment thing is just a media circus. But not just that, it's a soap opera. Soap operas are meccas of bad melodramatic acting, yet so many people watch them. And they've crept into primetime television (e.g. Melrose Place), and people STILL watch religiously. It's the same way with the Clinton thing. You keep watching, to see the players act and react, and to see if in the end Clinton gets removed from office.

I can just imagine a soap opera based on this scandal. "The White House Chronicles." Starring Bill, as the repressed mid-life crisis head honcho with some dirty secrets; Hillary, her stone-face personality stands by her husband even when she knows what's really going on; Monica, the love-sick vixen with latent feelings of guilt; Paula and Linda, Monica's "friends" who betray her and her forbidden love. Oh boy, it sounds like a big ratings giant to me!

Then, of course, there is the whole Princess Diana situation. After reading countless articles and watching A&E biographies of her, I often wonder how it's possible for the media to criticize itself. I mean, you people are all the same. I can't believe any of those notorious paparazzi who stalked her for all those years can even justify mourning for her, because they're the ones that killed her, whether it be directly or indirectly.

It's amazing how we view celebrities, on-screen or off-screen, and how we are fascinated with every iota of their lives. Just like a soap opera. No matter how bad the acting, you keep watching, because you want to know who sleeps with who next. It goes to show us that this is what the country REALLY wants to see, as long as, of course, it's not you under the microscope.