WHEN DID THE HERD START WRITING THE HEADLINES!

Comedian Milton Berle cracked: "If evolution really works, how come mothers only have two hands." And if the law has really evolved, why could this have occurred? A traffic cop pulled over a completely naked woman riding a motorcycle at high noon. But because the law didn't  think to address the situation, the only thing he could do is issue a ticket for failing to wear a helmet.

We don't want to blame evolution's shortcomings for all our problems, but something seems wrong with a culture in which the herds often determine the headlines. Instead of objective truths setting the standards, we all subjectively decide what's right or wrong, wise or foolish, taste or dreck. In the name of democracy, the inmates take over the asylum!

TV hits like "American Idol," "The Voice," and "Dancing With the Stars" have panels of objective judges, yet allow subjective voters from the far corners of TV's cultural wasteland to decide what is talent. Not to be outdone, TV news often does the same thing by what they call "pull" journalism instead of "push" journalism. In effect, ratings-minded networks opt to "pull" from the masses what they WANT to hear rather than what the journalists may believe they SHOULD hear.

Movies, music, celebrities, theatre, literature, fashion, along with pop psychology increasingly become more a mirror-to-the-masses instead of a beacon-from-the-trained. In an age which boasts the role of experts, most of the one being quoted and paraded are chosen more for their image than their intellect. Consider the many TV "doctors" and "judges" being paid big bucks to play expert.

Writers like George Orwell and Aldous Huxley warned us of the danger from the state [a popular obsession with millions of Americans]. Ahh, but perhaps the real danger comes from we the masses more even than the state. Ever watch a vigilante in action.......?