Andy, you were so right.

"In the future everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes." Andy Warhol

While there are many versions of that Andy Warhol quote, it has certain proven true, if not for everyone then for many more people than we ever imagined. The fame comes from being a contestant on a quiz show, committing a crime, being the victim of a crime, doing something disgusting or detestable, pretending your child visited heaven, or putting a home video on the internet and gaining instant attention. But I wonder if Andy realized how rapidly the lazy media would accommodate those pathetic unknowns seeking their brief time in the spotlight. In the case of the home videos, instantly accepting that they are absolutely genuine, thus catapulting persons involved to temporary fame, even if they actually staged the whole thing. I'm aware of this from an ABC news story right now about a baby biting the finger of a tot and him screaming in pain. This video has, as they say, gone viral. Yet to me, whether it is or not, this seems so incredibly staged and fake that I amazed that so many people find it charming and real. But then almost everything on America's Funniest Videos are obviously faked. It seems the American public doesn't mind being duped as long as they're amused or aren't clever enough to spot the deception. One could ask, why was the camera there at that significant moment in so many cases? Why? Because it was staged, faked, rehearsed, planned. While I don't find these fakeries offensive in themselves, I am offended that the American public is so gullible and that the broadcast news media is so easily deceived and so unwilling to do difficult reporting it will add any trivial video to the nightly news.