Because expending energy damning the existence of a spoiled, whorish heiress/débutante/moron [whose only claim to fame consists of being (1) rich, (2) blonde, (3) thin and (4) present at any star-heavy gathering of any kind] draws our attention from the jumbo-jet crash that is the Bush Administration.

What really gets me is-- Paris isn't even pretty. She has no talent of any kind (unless "no gag reflex" or "raging case of herpes requiring fistfuls of Valtrex (tm)" counts as talent these days). She has nothing to offer the world. She's not vaguely interesting. Are we Americans so deeply, utterly stupid that we're that easily distracted from important issues that affect the very continuance of our Democracy?

Wait-- don't answer that. I won't like the answer.

Helicopters overhead - perhaps they should be in Iraq

Squad car ride (with limos following) - perhaps they should be patrolling a high crime area

Picture worth 1/2 million...you don't pay that because somebody is hated...(We dig hear)

Its love, interest, wishful thinking and a very detached populace. GO AMERICA! GO WORLD! ROCK LIKE HICKMEN!

"Paris has come to embody the angst of our increasing sense of powerlessness -- she's the blonde whom we punish, because we understand her crimes."

Puh-leeze. Paris embodies a monstrous sense of entitlement that is repulsive to most of the world. As for being some kind of blond scapegoat for society, that's just the point: She doesn't get punished, even when she richly deserves it!

At this point, I gag whenever I see that vacuous, piggy-eyed mug on my tv. Please. Just go away. Go. Away. Now.

I don't understand the fascination with this type of reasoning: "Americans are fascinated with the unimportance of crimes committed by the likes of Paris Hilton because we can't grasp the really serious crimes committed by those in government, such as the war in Iraq, oil corruption, et al. These crimes are too complicated, our silence about them is tacit acceptance of their Weighty Importance and we don't obsess about them because that means we would have to truly DEAL with our own complicity in these truly serious crimes. To punish Paris is to punish what is easy, what is accessible to our brains, and that is Justice."

(incidentally, I wasn't quoting the above paragraph, just using it to paraphrase as an example).

Please. I really can't stress how tired I am of the endless armchair-psychoanalyis of Americans. Sometimes the answer is simple: maybe the reason America doesn't pay attention to the really important issues, and devotes an ungodly number of hours to superficial piffle like Paris Hilton, is because Americans SIMPLY DON'T CARE about the important issues. They aren't sexy, they're complicated and they require 1) an active intelligence to accurately follow them, 2) an interest in the world as a whole, rather than each person's selfish self-interest, 3) regular reading habits.

In the author's attempt to explain the public's fascination with Paris, (as well as the media's fascination with itself

causing the public to be fascinated with Paris), the author is reaching for a complicated and all-encompassing justification for our obsession with the unimportant.

Perhaps it really isn't that complicated...

Hell, I have no idea which particular strumpet she is, and less inclination to find out. What I do detest is the constant coverage this celebrity (and others) warrent in our 24/7 celebrity-driven infotainment media.

Yesterday, WTOP News (103.5) which fancies itself the center of Washington DC's 24/7 news world, broke into programming with BREAKING NEWS!!! I'm thinking: The Drunk pardoned Scooter! or The Russians invaded Poland! Nooooooo, Paris Hilton was getting out of jail.

Salon, please STOP reporting ANYTHING on this young woman and all others like her. Let those who are interested dine at Faux News.

On Salon she's called a meteor, in the Washington post she's called our contemporary Mona Lisa. These writers make me ill.

Paris Hilton typifies the Bowie line, "I looked in her eyes, they were blue but nobody home." There's nothing to say about her, but salon and other news outlets insist on writing about her even when they write about how silly it is to be obsessed with her. Enough already!

If I weren’t consumed with Paris today it would be something else silly. A person can’t always be thinking about human suffering. I’m not Mother Theresa. Some days I read the gossip pages or I watch E! or I toss a silly book in the bottom of my beach bag and I really do ‘get all the news I need on the weather report.’ Other days I’ve got my nose buried in a copy of the Economist and I listen to news radio all day.

I’m excited to see Paris get tossed back in the clink. She’s a total menace and I dislike her.

I’d also be excited to see the black teenager who is behind bars for having sex with a slightly younger teenager OUT of prison on those child molestation charges.

I can be a silly girl – but I’m not limited by it. Of course I'm staying away from CNN today - the Paris coverage can be taken too far.

Maybe it's not such a great idea to insult your readers.

"...there were plenty of other things we might have paid attention to. Lookie! The Iraq war! Presto! The "ongoing investigations" of atrocious, illegal acts committed at the highest levels of government! Instead, we are engaging in our new favorite dysfunctional love-hate relationship: Public stoning of the celebrity hooker."

Why is it either/or? Many of us take citizenship seriously and educate ourselves about the appalling antics of our leaders. We even write to our representatives, protest, and are active in our communities. And some of us, in our spare time, watch TV and films and read about the absurd offerings of our pop culture. And if Paris's story briefly shines a light on the gross inequities of our legal system, then I don't have too much of a problem with it.

I don't and haven't spend any time ogling Paris' troubles, haven't seen the sex tape, although I'll admit I watch 2 or 3 of the first Simple Life episodes when I was in graduate school.

I don't care what you say... the release is a blatant and overt criminal activity engaged by the sheriff. In a city where race and class and law enforcement and the interaction therein have garnered top billing, the release of a young wealthy socialite from prison under clearly fallacious pretense is worthy of note. Should the law enforement of LA be forced under the microscope again. It is no wonder the Deputies union has complained: this insanity casts their integrity and the integrity of law enforcement in general, into disrepute.

I certainly hope this is thoroughly investigated and the sheriff held accountable if the 'medical' cause is deemed to be suspect.

We may have better things to think about, but at least we can try and take somewhat seriously, occasionally, about the asinine things and people we do think about.