You Connect the Dots: a report on a report regarding the death of Billy Mays (no, not Willie Mays)
First it is with great surprise and unintentional callousness that I post this glib assessment. I haven’t found the time to post anything lately, and this is surely not a worthy comeback.
But today, out of solipsistic curiosity, I clicked on the link about the death*, this weekend in Florida**, of the only product pitchman I recognize, Billy Mays (’Mr. OxiClean’ to me). I had to share. While really, really important events take place in the world, it has been horrifying, fascinating & (when needed) reassuring to watch the wingnuts unravel over the election of Barack Obama, by the (smarter) people, for the (smarter) people. Props for their partisan dedication to wingnut-ness at every level, for example, by their Big-Fat-Mouthed GOP-Boss Rush, who this week blamed GOP Governor Sanford’s, um, fall from space, as excusably (of course – duh!) stemming from the actions of President Obama & his relentless tenure.
Back to it – yes, I began with a point. The above-mentioned link I clicked on went to a Fox News site and I chose to ‘go there’. Let me just yank out and repost here what struck me about the ‘article’. That is, how these people ‘make’ news with an emphasis on ’stories’ by empowering their avid base with all the tools needed to fly off to wing-nut land on their own libertarian terror-fueled power, calling for fascism at the same time they decry it. Amazing. See if you get there too.
From “‘Infomercial King’ Billy Mays Found Dead in Home”
“His ubiquitousness and thumbs-up, in-your-face pitches won Mays plenty of fans. People line up at his personal appearances for autographed color glossies, and strangers stop him in airports to chat about the products.
“I enjoy what I do,” Mays told The Associated Press in a 2002 interview. “I think it shows.”
Mays was on board a US Airways flight that blew out its front tires as it landed at a Tampa airport on Saturday, MyFOXTampa.com reported.
US Airways spokesman Jim Olson said that none of the 138 passengers and five crew members were injured in the incident, but several passengers reported having bumps and bruises, according to the station.
Authorities have not said whether Mays’ death was related to the incident.”
You make the call readers. Fly or die? An OxiClean death or something more airporty? Who were the strangers who stopped Mays ‘to chat about the products’? Didn’t a few of the 9/11 hijackers attend flight schools in Florida? And didn’t Florida allegedly vote for Obama in 2008? I’m just saying…
*Next week, the hundreds of thousands of annual deaths. Yes, deaths.
**In Florida.
