The Federal Shutdown & The Presidents Cup Streaker

I've become a fan of Google Trends (http://www.google.com/trends), the website that lists the hottest topics people are looking up on my beloved Google.  Rather than looking at the front page of any web page or newspaper, all I have to do is pull up Google Trends and, bippity-boppity-boop, I can learn what's current in the minds of my fellow Web-savvy earthlings.  Today, apparently, it's The Presidents Cup Streaker with 100,000 searches.

So the Federal Government of the United States  has shut down - it is in chaos with more bickering going on on Capital Hill than my kids on the way to the dentist - but the focus in cyberspace is on some woman who streaked in front of Tiger Woods and other golf royalty at the Presidents Cup in Ohio?  WTF?!

I get it.  It's not every day that a woman wearing nothing but a thong and red, white and blue pasties runs at full tilt across the 18th hold of a golf tournament (Note:  she was NOT naked.  Aren't streakers supposed to be naked?!).  Plus, she was an attractive woman.  Would she have gotten so much press, I wonder, had she been hunchbacked, peg-legged, and homely?  According to Fox Sports (http://msn.foxsports.com/golf/story/streaker-presidents-cup-18th-hole-muirfield-dublin-ohio-tiger-woods-fred-couples-americans-beat-international-team-100613), the probably-chilly athlete apparently dodged security and avoided being taken into custody.  I have no doubt that she'll eventually step forward, appear on all of the major talk shows, and parlay her quick little track meet into a six-figure book deal.

But what does it say about the online community that one silly event upstaged a deeply troubled world power?  Are people just tired of hearing Obama and the other Stooges on in Washington bicker like an old, married couple?  Or are those of us who are affected by the Federal furloughs busy trying to survive while verbal diarrhea permeates the air in our nation's Capital?  Is the BS getting to be too much for us all?

I think so.  Because looking at the other topics at the top of the Google Trends list, I see that entertainers are hot (and I do consider professional athletes entertainers).  People are searching for info on Scarlett Johanson, the 49ers, the Pittsburgh Pirates, various overpaid athletes, and one former Disney princess.  Escapism prevails on the Web while the boobs in Washington play chicken with people's lives. 

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Update:  In the spirit of truth, this morning the aforementioned naked lady was replaced on Google Trends by searches for MLB (as in Major League Baseball) and the Oakland Raiders football.  Entertainment still reigns over substance. 


Thank you for reading!