Why Americans are stupid: All Peterson, all the time.

[BlueEyedSon]

One of my favorite weekend rituals is reading the NYT Book Review. It's a way that I measure the American zeitgeist. True, it's only one facet (the reality show du jour would be another :) ), but it reflects what is on the minds of people who I presume are better educated.

#1 A DEADLY GAME, by Catherine Crier with Cole Thompson. (ReganBooks/HarperCollins, $27.95.) A former judge and current Court TV analyst looks at the Scott Peterson case.

#3 BLOOD BROTHER, by Anne Bird. (ReganBooks/HarperCollins, $25.95.) The long-lost half sister of Scott Peterson explains why she is convinced he is guilty of murder.

#14 WITNESS, by Amber Frey. (ReganBooks/HarperCollins, $25.95.) A memoir by the California massage therapist who testified for the prosecution in the murder trial of Scott Peterson.

Oh well.

:banghead:

[Radio_Lady]

1. I previewed these three books on my local show. All excellent.

I did see the touching TV interview with Anne Bird -- was it with Matt Lauer? I can't remember. That's a chilling book, and I felt so badly for her. I hope she is able to reunite with her birth mother, (Scott's mother) but probably not.

It's another case of how violence affects families.

[Domitan]

2. The books may be intelligently written but

the point still remains about how distracted the US public is from the more pressing issues.

[Radio_Lady]

3. Yes, I agree. TV and radio news producers help create the news --

-- by choosing from among competing stories. How and why they do it is fascinating.

At any one time, most people are just going about their usual business. That involves eating, sleeping, voiding, taking care of kids and other family matters. Public opinion is shaped by many factors.

During the Viet Nam war, we quickly became numb to body counts and reports of violence. Of course, news was on the hour and often film was days old. Instant contact with the world's events and 24-hour news has brought both positives and negatives.

[Spencer10]

9. Distracted and Disinterested

Where I live, in my little neighborhood, people are far more than distracted. They are outright disinterested. They are too busy working, raising kids and shopping. They are running up their credit cards at a staggering rate and raising spoiled, undisciplined and impulsive kids. They crowd into Walmart at every opportunity. There are no bookshelves in their homes because there are no books to put on them. Sadly, I think what I am talking about is the wave of the future. I see them everywhere in the city I live in (a very large city, I might add). The great majority of them are minorities. Most are Hispanic. They are totally disinterested in politics and can't carry on an intelligent conversation on the subject. Please know I am not slamming minorities. I am just offering the facts as they relate to my neighborhood and what I have observed in conversations, dinner in their home, my child playing with their children, etc. I'm not really sure why they are so disinterested in politics. It could be because there are no good books on the subject that are printed in Spanish. It could be because they are raising so many children that time each day doesn't allow for the luxury of reading.

[newyawker99]

12. Hi Spencer10!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[BlueEyedSon]

7. I'm sure they're FINE books.

What is disconcerting is what people chose to fill their minds with.

Too bad TV didn't devote more time to the Peterson case, then people wouldn't have to buy books about it.

:sarcasm:

[seabeyond]

4. news addict myself, actually woke to wanting some news this

morning. i havent turned to news on tv since fall. and sure enough, only pope. not a single bit of news on tv. i would love to just be able to turn on a tv channel to see what is up with the world, not just one story for days

[Pool Hall Ace]

5. I have never seen any reason why Laci Peterson's murder

should have been national news. I have no doubt that the average person knows intimate details about this case, yet has only a vague idea (if any) regarding the proposed overhaul of Social Security, the truth about what is happening in Iraq, or even the Gannon/Guckert happenings.

[zalinda]

6. The reason was

she was white, pretty and pregnant.

zalinda

[Pool Hall Ace]

10. Then disappearing around Christmas probably helped, too. (nt)

[Spider Jerusalem]

8. "literate" doesn't mean "better educated".

Most Americans aren't "educated" at all, in fact. Not in any meaningful sense of the term. What they receive in school is TRAINING, not education. The difference between training and education: one teaches you to do, the other teaches you to think. And most people would rather be told what to think than do it for themselves.

[Harlequin]

11. May I suggest better criteria for your experiment?

Those books are chosen by idiots that read FOR publishers.

You'd do well to look to the Best Seller List for guidance -- American's haven't even STARTED buying the books you cite.

[BlueEyedSon]

13. Sorry if I was not clear in my post: those ARE the bestsellers.

Hardcover nonfiction, to be precise.

The numbers preceding them are their rank.

[Harlequin]

14. Hilarious...