The video became a worldwide viral sensation and a useful tool in explaining the supreme idiocy of U.S. America's youth. Or not.
Some of us may cling to the comforting belief that this nation once teemed with scholarly beauty queens, but it probably never has been so.
Moreover, the notion that Americans are apathetic because they fail to share verve for public and international policy is also a myth. We all know an engineer or doctor who can't name his congressman, much less the prime minister of Canada (um ?).
And though it's difficult for some choice citizens to believe, not everyone is captivated by government, nor does everyone stake his existence on its success. This attitude doesn't make people apathetic; it makes them normal.
Now, I've been lectured numerous times on the awe-inspiring intelligence of the generation preceding mine. (I intend to deliver the same speech to my own offspring.) You have to wonder, though; should the children of "The Gong Show" generation be lecturing the children of the "American Idol" one?
Hardly.