I was pissed off when rock music started getting sucked into sports shows and ads in the late 70s. Now we have Franz Ferdinand as ad intro music for ABC Monday Night Football. I was even more ticked when it started being co-opted in to politics with songs having only passing connection to the policies or even artists opposing parties being thrown together. At much the same time and pace TV bled news into entertainment so that we now care Elton John shouted in Taiwan and can follow the national news item about it with former sportscasters interviewing former actors from Friends about their reaction.

But it gets quite sick when we have "celebrity crime caché" with the soon to be incarcerated (but, you know, just to get it over with) Martha trading with the creators of Survivor to create some great new entertainment:

Burnett will develop a new prime-time series for Stewart, who will emerge from federal prison next spring after serving a five-month sentence for obstruction of justice and making false statements relating to the sale of a drug stock.

What are the ethics? Is there a point at which integrity bars dealing with criminals or is the power of celebrity and profit now bigger than justice? I suppose when a political leader can make hay by slamming "trial lawyers" as a societal evil, supporting criminals gets easier. Weird times.