"I am out of it. Even when I was a teenager, I wasn't cool. But I live in the land of "American Idol." A nation where more people vote for would-be professional singers than an elected president.
So it'd be easy -- and fashionably wonkish -- to be critical of the masses. I could type sentence after sentence about how such low-grade entertainment only proves the country's decline.
But I would be wrong. I'd be wrong because I've never watched the show (except once, I peeked over my son's shoulders when he was watching "Idol"). And I'd be wrong because Americans always have liked such novelties. As a nation, we've somehow made it through Buffalo Bill Cody, pulp fiction and every other worrisome form of entertainment.
And I guess I'd be wrong to pick a fight with 63 million people -- then that sounds fun.
I don't worry about "Idol" (or any popular medium). I know our culture is far more complex than the headlines because the really exciting action (sorry, it's Simon, right?) are the stories held by the National Archives."
Get the Story:
Mark Trahant: The real action is in the National Archives
(The Seattle Post-Intelligencer 5/28)
More Mark Trahant:
Mark Trahant: Border fence a bad idea for U.S.
(5/22)
Mark Trahant: It's time
for U.S. and Iran to talk (5/15)
Mark
Trahant: High gas prices a wake-up call to America (5/8)
Mark Trahant: Stark choices define American
politics (5/1)
Mark Trahant: Hope for
the best, plan for the worst (4/24)
Trahant: We should decide how our taxes are spent
(4/17)
Mark Trahant: Entering the
immigration debate (4/3)
Mark Trahant:
America is a blending of cultures (3/27)
Mark Trahant: Unsaid debates dominate agenda
(3/20)
Mark Trahant: Bush and human
rights in Pakistan (3/13)
Mark Trahant:
Hank Adams, Indian visionary (3/6)
Mark
Trahant: Health care spending on the rise (2/27)
Mark Trahant: Future taxpayers will cough up dough
(2/13)
Mark Trahant: Sooner or later,
America will go broke (2/6)
Mark
Trahant: Bush will tell us everything is great (1/30)
Mark Trahant: Abramoff turning into blame the
Indians (1/23)
Mark Trahant: Cultural
changes come, some slowly (1/9)
Mark
Trahant: Starting new year off with correction (1/4)
Mark Trahant: How about a coin for Vine Deloria?
(12/19)
Mark Trahant: The really great
state of the economy (12/12)
Mark
Trahant: America's numbers don't add up (12/5)
Mark Trahant: Few writers as powerful as Deloria
(11/21)
Mark Trahant: Media sometimes
isn't fair (11/14)
Mark Trahant: No one
wants to talk about immigration (11/7)
Mark Trahant: The ultimate power of the Fed
(10/31)
Mark Trahant: Is there no trust
in the government? (10/24)
Mark Trahant:
The next pick for Federal Reserve job (10/10)
Mark Trahant: I was wrong about voting by mail
(9/26)
Mark Trahant: Rebuilding New
Orleans, a unique city (9/19)
Mark
Trahant: Katrina testing limits of charity (9/12)
Mark Trahant: Democracy an unfinished
experiment (08/29)
Mark Trahant: You
write the news, you pick it (8/15)
Mark
Trahant: Tribal stories don't matter to science (8/8)
Mark Trahant: Congress focuses on real issues
(8/1)
Mark Trahant: Judicial debate
conceals big issue (7/25)
Mark Trahant:
Wasting time at work can be productive (7/18)
Mark Trahant: Appoint Indian to U.S. Supreme Court
(7/11)
Mark Trahant: Readers offer junk
mail solutions (06/20)
Mark Trahant:
Junk mail invades home, office (6/13)
Mark Trahant: Social Security needs new compact
(6/6)
Mark Trahant: Readers upset over
military cartoon (5/30)
Mark Trahant:
Healing the world with totem poles (5/23)
Mark Trahant: We're all as young as we feel
(5/16)
Mark Trahant: Social Security
debate masks failures (5/9)
Mark
Trahant: Public sees bias in the news media (5/2)
Mark Trahant: Few salmon left for tribal ceremonies
(4/25)
Mark Trahant: Tax system unfair
and complicated (4/18)
Mark Trahant: Our
nation must pay its own tax bill (4/11)
Mark Trahant: Latest numbers on economy scare me
(4/4)
Mark Trahant: C-SPAN just as
important today (3/28)
Mark Trahant:
Does democracy mean supporting Bush? (3/21)
Mark Trahant: Academic freedom for Churchill
too? (03/07)
Mark Trahant: Journalism
more interactive than before (2/28)
Mark
Trahant: Social Security debate all about 'me' (2/21)
Mark Trahant: Social Security push ignores big
issue (2/14)
Mark Trahant: Human beings
only react during crisis (2/7)
Mark
Trahant: Election tales usually one-sided (1/31)
Trahant: Public school system not good enough
(01/24)
Mark Trahant: Three cheers for the
First Amendment (01/10)
Mark Trahant:
Did my vote count? Did yours? (12/20)
Mark Trahant: Bush plan leaves no room for salmon
(12/13)
Mark Trahant: Two friendly faces
on the news (11/29)
Mark Trahant:
Mainstream media doesn't matter (11/22)
Mark Trahant: Do political endorsements matter?
(11/8)
Mark Trahant: So what happens
after the election? (11/1)
Mark Trahant:
Vote early and avoid campaign sleaze (10/25)
Mark Trahant: Congress should abide by laws too
(10/18)
Mark Trahant: Election changing
as we speak (10/11)
Mark Trahant: NMAI
must change the story (09/27)
Mark
Trahant: Media's view of elections should change (09/20)
Mark Trahant: What happened to Pakistan? bin
Laden? (09/13)
Mark Trahant: Payroll tax
not fair to all Americans (8/23)
Mark
Trahant: Bush's answer was slightly better (8/9)
Audio: Bush explains meaning of tribal sovereignty
(8/6)
Mark Trahant: The one that didn't
get away (08/02)
Mark Trahant: Living in
a world of easy credit (7/26)
Mark
Trahant: Congress still stealing Indian land (07/12)
Mark Trahant: Raising the next peace generation
(7/6)
Mark Trahant: How far does
'terrorist' definition go? (6/28)
Mark
Trahant: The big five-oh a good time to reflect (6/21)
Mark Trahant: Ordinary Reagan was extraordinary
(06/14)
Mark Trahant: Indian girls team had
game back in 1900s (06/07)
Mark Trahant:
Voice mail filled with views on Iraqi war (05/17)
Mark Trahant: A familiar story of cultural
change (03/22)
Mark Trahant: One
Indian in Senate is wrong number (03/08)
Mark Trahant: Division marked another major war
too (2/23)
Mark Trahant: We're still
fighting the Cold War (01/26)
Trahant: Selling democracy to Indian
Country (11/17)
Trahant: Can't trust
Uncle Sam with Indian money (11/10)
Mark Trahant: Bush needs to note success and
failure (10/20)
Mark Trahant:
Technology and the news world (09/29)
Mark Trahant: Preparing for the unthinkable
(09/22)
Trahant: When tribes succeed,
someone changes rules (09/1)
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