John Kerry Misspeaks, and My Life, the Tabloid

I’m not famous, and people don’t usually care too much about my life. Sometimes I wonder though- if I were famous, what would the tabloids write about me?

My love life wouldn’t interest a tabloid, because it’s fairly boring (of course if I was being covered by tabloids it might not be). I think I would be like a politician and only get mentioned when I said something seen as outrageous. The media’s reaction to what Senator Kerry said to a college audience about Iraq is a perfect example of what they’d do to me. It’s what happens to pretty much everyone that tries to say something different.

Of course Kerry was supposedly trying to make a joke when he misspoke. What he meant to say was that “If you don’t study …. you end up getting stuck in a war in Iraq. Just ask President Bush”, instead of suggesting that only uneducated people wind up soldiers in the army…… as true as that is. I don’t just think that only the poor, and the uneducated join the army and are sent to fight our wars- it’s a matter of fact. The reason Kerry’s slip was so noteworthy was because it struck a little too close to home.

I’d probably make the tabloids for saying stuff like that. I wouldn’t mind it- I don’t say things that I’m not prepared to stand behind. I’m always careful about what I say (and sometimes maybe I don’t say enough). Not only wouldn’t I mind- I’d love my comments and opinions making the tabloid headlines. People have stopped speaking out against things that are popular, like racism in our military (the Kerry comment), or in our government (I found mentions of Kanye West’s outburst at a Katrina fundraiser still in the tabloids a year later), that’s why 95% of the news in tabloids is in the love and romance category. Fame isn’t being used to further peace and politics anymore. When George Clooney speaks up, it still makes the news. John Lennon’s activism always made the news. There’s a sense though that someone else’s problem isn’t worth ruining your career for. That’s the only thing I would want fame for- so I could ruin it for something worthwhile.