Paris Hilton, George Bush and America 2007

[dude]

I never thought I'd write anything about the woman, nor give her this

kind of significance, but it's nonetheless true that Paris Hilton has

become a potent symbol of the times we live in.

Watching the over-the-top media coverage -- and the outrage that

ensued when she was let out of jail after only three days -- I

couldn't help but think about George W. Bush. True, Paris Hilton had

not waged war based on falsehoods, nor deprived the people of New

Orleans immediate assistance after a horrific natural disaster, nor

allowed the Justice Department to become a political arm of the

president, nor brought the faith-based armies into White House. Paris

Hilton had not set out to trample the Constitution -- if she has even

read it -- nor has she gone about trying to wiretap

Americans'telephone calls and monitor their email. And I doubt that

Paris Hilton has any grand schemes to wipe out "axis of evil" any

time soon.

Still, the similarities between the two underscore the collision of

political culture and popular culture seven years into the Bush II

Era.

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