Let me preface this by saying that the last thing I want to do is start taking Miss Hilton seriously.  But I have to concede that in looking at this jail house soap opera she is embroiled in, there are some serious issues worthy of debate.

The media pundits have been abuzz for days about the many elements and while some good points have been brought up, they are more often missing the real issues.  So here is my take on it.

First, one set of supporters pointed out that she was not treated preferentially, she was actually treated more harshly.  They are right, kind of.  They point out that for a parole violation like hers, the person would normally get a 30 day sentence, not 45.  And they also note that under the LA County's early release programs, that same person would like serve almost no time at all, likely about a day and a half.

I cannot dispute that, I don't have enough information, but it was partially affirmed by the Sheriff in other interviews.

And if true, that would clearly be a problem of the judge holding a celeb to a higher standard, except that they ignored an important aspect of the story:  in Paris's case she herself made the harsh sentence necessary. 

By going into court with the attitude she did, that she didn't do anything wrong, that it was her handlers fault because they told her she could drive, that she hadn't read the papers detailing her suspension because she just signs what they give her etc ad naseum.

What became evident was that she was not taking any responsibility for her actions and that she didn't take the legal system seriously.  This is not a surprise.  If you take a child, surround her with money, with people to do everything for her, never hold her to any standards, shower her with praise for the slightest move she makes and in general spoil her from birth on, this is exactly what you can come to expect.  Follow her around with cameras and tell her that her beauty is all she needs to be the worlds role model, and you get a spoiled rotten brat who thinks she can buy her way out of any consequences. 

In other words, this is a result of the entire world kissing her ass as a ritual event.  More on this a bit later.

So the judge was confronted with a woman who was refusing to be serious, and wanted to blame others for her own immaturity and refusal to be responsible.  And he did what many judges do in a similar situation.  He threw the book at her.  He was really not that forceful, a 45 day sentence is not a killer ordeal, even for Paris Hilton.  In her reality show with Nicole Richie, she occasionally did far worse then sit in a cell by herself. 

And like the Simple Life, there is the hope that will actually learn a lesson and take it to heart if she has to face her actions directly.  A slim hope, but hope springs eternal and all that.

So this was not a case of a Judge punishing the rich girl for being rich, she was being punished for being irresponsible.

The buy her way out of trouble continues to be an aspect that needs to be confronted and so far no one has, and by that I mean the news that Sheriff Baca took campaign money from the Hilton's.  Since her early release seems to be in line with his normal policies, it seems unlikely to be a matter of payback, but that cannot change the appearance of chicanery, and it needs to be confronted.  By continuing to ignore it, the muttering and suspicion gets worse.   As a public official he has to understand that even the appearance of a conflict of interest is something that must be confronted with full disclosure and open frankness, not ignoring it.

Her early release continues to cause a lot of discussion.  Did she have a problem?  Or was this a spoiled tantrum designed to help her get out.  Greta Van Susetereheln made these observations:

VAN SUSTEREN: Yea, what was painfully obvious... is this woman is there is something not quite right. She is a sick woman. I have no idea what the problem is, but certainly someone need to take a look at her.

SMITH: For real?

VAN SUSTEREN: She sort of has a tick and shakes. We were all kind of commenting, the media, we were stunned on how troubled and sick she was. Look there is clearly something she needs medical attention, I don’t know what it is, but she certainly needs a lay person who would observe that she needs medical attention. Hopefully the judge can get her that in the jail.

So the whole situation obviously needs to get sorted out. She needs to get a good medical diagnosis. There's something... she shakes, she twitches, she quivers. There's something wrong with her.

SMITH: Think she was on something?

VAN SUSTEREN: Yeah, and I've got all sorts of speculation, but everyone knows I've got a law degree, I don't have a medical degree.

SMITH: Speculate. Come on!

VAN SUSTEREN: No, no. There's something... look, I'll do like a lay person. A lay person in court can say someone was drunk and you can talk about your observations. She wasn't drunk. But I can make an observation that this woman... there's something... she's sick. There's something wrong with her. I don't know what it is and I'm certainly not equipped to make that determination. But I feel that I can make the determination that this is... this is a woman who needs some medical attention.

And Shep, as an aside, if she showed up on my doorstep, the first thing I'd do is take her to a doctor.

My personal opinion, unqualified by any medical training?  The DT's.  I think Paris has spent so much time partying that this is tantamount to rehab for her and her episodes are just her body drying out.  

TMZ reports she is on psychotropic drugs but no one will confirm it.   And while I won't make any legally binding accusations, I will say that if it was confirmed she was in effect detoxing in jail, I wouldn't be surprised.  How many Hollywierd types end up Valium crazed?  Drubs and alcohol and partying are second nature to far too many young celebrities.

My final observation is on her celebrity status in general.  No one argues she is not held in high regard...ok worshiped.  We have a celebrity culture in this country, we play hero worship to politicians, sports stars, actors, model, singer and all manner of people who are either rich, beautiful or display some manner of talent that in a normal 9-5 world don't mean squat.  Paris can pose on a runway, but her reality shows that she hasn't got even the simplest work ethic or skill.  She is the poster child for useless privilege.

But what really aggravated me was the comment made by one of her adoring fans:  She is "America's Princess Di".

That's just wrong.  Yes, Princess Di was a showpiece, a woman revered by most in her country and at her death the displays of mourning rivaled any other public figures death i have ever seen.

But while Diana may have live in privilege and luxury, she wasn't simply a spoiled child spending her parents money.  Diana understood the price of her status.  The royals in England may live separate pampered lives but they also are a part of their society.  Charity work is expected.  And frankly Diana did more then many of her royal peers.  She campaigned tirelessly against landmines, for AIDS and other notable causes.

Diana did something with her life.  Yes, she enjoyed the wealth and power and status.  But she at least gave something back.

At best, the most positive thing I have ever seen Paris lauded for was being nice to people at a fat farm on her reality show, with one exception.  When she sued the porn distributer about her sex tape, she donated her settlement proceedings to charity.  Laudable, but hardly on par with Diana.  I did a search for Paris Hilton and charity and I got squat back.  Do a search for Princess Di and Chairyt and see what you get.

My point is that she is not just the symptom but the spokes-model and poster child of the star studded underbelly of American society.

It isn't even her fault, really.  How many of us would have turned out better, in the same environment?  That she grew up pampered and coddled and taught her looks are the only value she needs is a given, and it produced exactly what it was meant to:  An heiress and a useless idiot who can contribute nothing to society except laughter at her expense.

I respect her great grandfather Conrad Hilton more then many modern men, because he worked his butt off to build an empire tat his children are squandering with idiocy like Paris's.  One has to wonder what life for them would have been like had Conrad's will been honored and all his riches not been handed to his worthless children.

John Edwards loves to talk about there being Two Americas.  He is right.  There are the everyday people who run the country by the sweat of their brows, the workers, the police and firefighters, the factory workers and laborers.  Despite the nonsense of "jobs American's won't do" there are quite a few dirty and necessary ones they will do and that they do quite well.

and there are the rich and famous and beautiful that exist apparently to make us feel better about our mundane dreary lives by providing us with songs and movies and pretty pictures to look at.  They are the talented and wonderful, and some of them pride themselves on their ability to help sweeten our miserable lives. 

They are the powerful politicians who make the rules we live by and pontificate soberly about what we need and how they will provide it, and what we don't need, and why they will deny it to us: all for our own good and at our own expense. 

Frankly I am sick of it all.  I am sick of the twisted parental attitude of rich lawyers like Edwards who spend more on haircuts then I spend in food.  I am sick of a culture of looks over a culture of deeds.

And I sick of a culture that spends more time watching CNN doing its wall to wall coverage of Paris and her saga, and ignores deaths in war.

Our society has a twisted perception of reality and priorities.  The lesson of Paris Hilton is not that we have pampered children.  We knew that.

The lesson is that we as a society of normal people spend way too much time on hero worship of people who really do not do a damn thing to deserve it.

We need to get lives...Not Simple Lives, Real Lives.

That is how I see it, Straight Up.

 Trackposted to ST, Hot Air, Perri Nelson's Website, The Virtuous Republic, Big Dog's Weblog, The Amboy Times, Pursuing Holiness, Adeline and Hazel, Pet's Garden Blog, Rightlinx, The Magical Rose Garden, third world county, Woman Honor Thyself, stikNstein... has no mercy, Pirate's Cove, The Pink Flamingo, Dumb Ox Daily News, Church and State, Blog @ MoreWhat.com, , The Random Yak, A Blog For All, 123beta, guerrilla radio, DeMediacratic Nation, Maggie's Notebook, Adam's Blog, Webloggin, MY Vast Right Wing Conspiracy, Cao's Blog, Phastidio.net, The Bullwinkle Blog, Colloquium, Conservative Cat, Jo's Cafe, Diary of the Mad Pigeon, Faultline USA, The Crazy Rants of Samantha Burns, The World According to Carl, Blue Star Chronicles, Gulf Coast Hurricane Tracker, High Desert Wanderer, and Gone Hollywood, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS