Anyone who watched cable television channels these last few days has discovered the important “news” the establishment wants us to internalize. The Olympics has provided the theater in which to see this played out: from parents in the stands watching their children perform to a lengthy biographical sketch of the stuffed-doll mascots of this circus, have kept Boobus’s synapses free of any burdens. Oh, did you hear that Gore Vidal died?  “Who was he?,” it might be asked. He was famous for being famous: he knew the Kennedys and many big-name entertainers! “Did he win any gold medals?” No, but he wrote stuff.

The Best of Butler Shaffer