As I sit here amidst my colleagues in Campus Progress, I am in shock of how someone going to jail, a daily occurrence, has captured the attention of all the major news networks.  The fact that MSNBC, CNN, and others have spent the majority of the day covering Paris Hilton makes me a little sick.  And, try as we might, most of us have watched some of the coverage.  I know that it’s on the televisions upstairs too.  And I must ask this question: why are we all watching? 

Forget the stalled immigration bill or the climate change talks that are going on at the G8, this is Paris Hilton.  It’s not everyday that you get to watch photogs almost getting run over as they pursue her car.  And the coverage from the air—extremely enriching.  Yet we continue to watch.  I don’t know the root of the obsession, but I am amazed at how it has captured a nation.  We saw it with the Anna Nicole coverage, and now we’re seeing it again.  But really, why are we all watching?