Royal wedding stupidity

Here’s the most disturbing aspect of the attention that Prince Whoever (Harry? William? I’m thankfully not sure) and his future princess are receiving in light of their recent engagement: I have not seen a single story about their engagement from a single news source, yet I know that the coverage has been wall-to-wall.

I consume almost all of my news via podcasts, Twitter and online resources such as The Daily Beast, Slate, NPR and the New York Times. So although I have seen mention of this recent engagement in my Twitter stream, I have yet to see an actual story on television, in print or on the Web.

Yet I have heard untold numbers of people, both in real life and on podcasts, complain about the amount of coverage that the story is receiving, presumably on news shows like The Today Show and in magazines like People.

And who knows? The clunky, commercial-ridden dinosaur known as the 6:00 news as well?

I sincerely hope not.

The amount of attention that this story has been receiving is disturbing, especially in light of last week’s news that a majority of Americans believe that their taxes have increased under President Obama when this is clearly not true.

I wouldn’t be so concerned about the attention being given to a monarchy in a foreign country is people weren’t so stupid about issues here at home.

Honestly. why are so many people fixated on a the wedding between two British citizens who have no legislative power whatsoever while they are simultaneously detached from real issues that affect their lives? Harry or William and his girlfriend are people who have gained their wealth and standing by birth and live in a world of polo ponies, public funding and medieval castles.

Why such fascination from the American public?

And all of this in light of a recent Pew study which found that while 75 percent of those surveyed could correctly identify Republicans as having done better in the midterm elections, less than half of them (46 percent) knew that the GOP had taken control of the House of Representatives.  About 14 percent also believe the GOP won both the House and Senate, and 8 percent think they won the Senate. A full 27 percent said they did not know either way. And only 38 percent of the public could correctly identify John Boehner as the presumptive Speaker of the House.

We have a majority of Americans who do not know that almost all of the TARP money has been paid back with interest, and an even greater majority unable to explain what TARP even was.

Yet we are training a laser-like focus on the future wedding of two inconsequential people in a foreign country, so much so that someone like me, who does not watch television news or read tabloid magazines, is aware of the level of attention that these people are receiving via third party complaints.

I asked this question on Twitter and Facebook last week, and now I ask it again:

Is it wrong for me to assume that anyone who follows the coverage of the upcoming royal wedding is stupid?

That’s probably a little harsh, but only a little.