Sometimes I wonder if America isn’t doomed. Here are some clues that may indicate the answer is yes.

1) The pharmaceutical companies have put ads in circulation on television that seem to occur one in every three. For every ailment there is supposedly a brand name cure. My 11 year-old daughter knows their names. And she knows that they are trying to brainwash her into believing that these things really can cure all that ails us which, if you believe the ads, is a serious, life-threatening ailment for every body part. Eyelids, arms, legs, hearts – the way we go to the bathroom, the way we eat, the way we breathe – they are telling us that they have a cure.

2) People actually watch Glenn Beck on television. Jon Stewart parodied him in yesterday’s Daily Show — and this not only says it all, but it was probably the best television I saw all year:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c
Intro – Progressivism Is Cancer
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show
Full Episodes
Political Humor Health Care Reform

3) The Bachelor on ABC. The less said about it the better but suffice it to say, will women stop at nothing to marinate in fantasy? Are we really THAT stupid, girls?

4) The public option will never pass. And we need health care.

5) Technology is moving so fast we haven’t really seen the long term implications. If we are all diving into the internet world, where will that eventually lead us? I don’t think I’m being paranoid to wonder if it isn’t the beginning of the end. Or maybe it’s just a new beginning. What worries me more are the physical aspects of things like radiation and cell phone usage. There, I said it.