An NPR story on Washington Mutual's mortgage swindle reminded me of celebrity AIDS poster-boy Magic Johnson, who was an endorser of Washington Mutual back in the day.
Oh, relax. Magic Johnson is just doing fine. He's a corporate mogul in L.A.. However, many of those swindled by the company he represented and pushed in minority communities are dispossessed and bankrupted.
This is the culture of celebrity. Celebrities exploit everything from sexually transmitted disease to spousal abuse for attention and financial gain. This infects the society as media-washed brains imitate these behaviors in everyday lives. Those who sell this celebrity culture, the agents and publicists, are motivated by profits and greed. Personal lives are peddled for photo ops and ad deals. Tiger Woods sells sportswear with his dead father's voice.
