To all those people outraged by the coverage of Paris Hilton. Paris is America, she is the epitome of a country that wants to change the subject. Who wants to talk about all those dead eyerackies?

If you don't want to read about Paris, don't read about Paris! It's easy.

And you know you want her, you know you are fascinated by her, otherwise why pay her so much attention. It's kind of like your obsession with cheerleaders.

650,000 dead in eyerack. Who cares?

Okay, I succumbed to reading this piece as it is from Salon, but I have studiously avoided any coverage of this person's 'ordeal' up to this point.

But this article/editorial/musing/jerkoff is just amnother reflection of what Hilton represents: the lowest common denominator of American society.

More shameless self-serving blather about a shameless, self-serving creature.

Can we stop this crap now?

The county sheriff's deputies have had a long history of brutality.

It's not really small thing to have a progressive sheriff in this county.

It means a lot less brutality, it means a lot less racism.

It's meant the end of sheriff's deputies turning law enforcement into gay bashing.

People who attacked Baca over Paris' early release have no idea what kind of person they've harmed.

This is why I get so angry about this case.

We've needed progressive law enforcement in LA for a long time. Remember Rodney King? Remember the riots?

Thank heavens Lee Baca has enough confidence in his progressive policies to stand up the so-called progressives who are trying to tear him down.

Since Paris is such an enemy of the so-called progressive crowd, nobody really stopped to think that they were doing to progressive interests when they all ganged up on Lee Baca and denounced him for that original early release.

Lee Baca is the most progressive law enforcement official we've ever had in southern California.

Remember, this is the home of Daryl Gates. Does anyone remember that racist fascist pig?

Well, Lee Baca is his direct opposite. A humane person, who is trying to keep his deputies human.

That's one reason why he works to keep the jails from becoming too overcrowded, aside from the federal mandate that is. He cares about the safety of his deputies.

Overcrowded jails present a physical and mental health risk to the guards as well as the prisoners.

Sheriff's deputies have to work as jail guards for the first phase of their career. So the jail conditions are their training conditions. Baca doesn't want them to be trained in hell. He wants them to be still capable of responding to human beings as human beings.

He's very sensitive to gay rights and he's very tough on sexual harassment.

He's like the progressive law enforcement dream.

But now he's been slimed by progressives all over the country.

It makes me sick and it makes me angry.

So stupid, petty and thoughtless to hurt this man's career over Paris Hilton.

Wow -- what an amazing progressive victory that would have been -- if you guys here at Salon had been able to get this man fired because of his progressive leadership of the jail.

I really don't give a damn about Paris Hilton.

But I had no idea that the little girl from that picture survived, much less went on to do diplomatic work. I'm stunned and thrilled.

And we shudder and complain about the attention Paris Hilton gets but we talk about her just the same, sometimes in quiet and disparaging tones.

No, no, and no again. "We" don't talk about her. You do. Incessantly. Salon is in love with this woman, I don't know why. Does it feel avant-garde to note people are "famous for being famous"? Does it give you the impression you're getting at the heart of contemporary America? Do you know how off the mark you are? Do you know how very long ago Warhol noted, and parodied, and celebrated what you are after now? Do you realize you help create the world of contemporary America by what stories and celebrities you choose to cover?

My "you" is not directed at Elliott alone. It's directed towards the various staff writers and the editors who cover this woman, and push for more coverage, the collective "you" of Salon, who cannot distinguish between their obsessions and those of their readership, and who insist on speaking for the latter, though the latter insist over and over that Salon's assumptions don't apply.

Do you think you are giving us our medicine? I've asked this elsewhere, and I'll ask it again: why does Salon not listen to its readers?

There is an important difference between a piece about Paris Hilton getting out of jail and a thoughtful piece about the media coverage of that event. Stephen Elliot writes good stuff, and even though I'm as disturbed by the obsessive coverage of this whole thing as the next "enlightened" person, I'm glad his name in the author spot led me to read it--even if just for the nice little story about Nick Ut and Kim buried in the piece.

Whether or not you're okay with how much coverage this event has generated, simply getting pissed off when anyone mentions it isn't that meaningful of a response. Ignore it if you have to, but the level of attention stuff like this gets is definitely interesting in and of itself, and is worth commenting upon. Which is what this piece is really about. At least read it. It's good.

please respect our F-ing intelligence and leave that crap to E!. You can be as liberal as you wish but there is a small amount of respect that we deserve from you, if you don't know enough about us your readers, then you better fire all your marketing department because they obviously don't know who reads your magazine and are out of touch with the reality of what's news worthy.

I refuse to read this article. I can't fucking take it anymore.

Make it go away. I don't give a shit what the article says. All media outlets need to stop covering anything related to this piece of trash.

Stop the madness!!!!