Horse sex and politics

Five of The Seattle Times' Top 20 most read stories of 2005 had to do with ...\nCan you guess? Iraq? Supreme Court Nominee Samuel Alito? Terrorism? The torture of prisoners in the War on Terror? Nope. Reasonably intelligent guesses, but the sad truth is the No. 1 story on that list -- as well as four others -- had to do with horse sex. \nYes, you read it correctly. They had to do with a man having sex with a horse. \nOn July 2, 2005, police were called to investigate a man who died of a perforated colon from having sex with a horse at a farm outside of Enumclaw, Wash. This led them to a farm in the area which was a popular destination for people wanting to engage in bestiality, or sexual activity with animals. \nFollow-up stories ranked third, sixth, 14th and 19th, respectively, on the Top 20 list. \nBestiality is disturbing, but it is also disturbing that out of every newsworthy event of 2005, this event was the most read about at the Seattle Times' Web site. Think about everything that goes on in the nation and the world in the course of any given year. Yup. A lot. \nThen add to that the fact we are involved in a war in Iraq, a War on Terror and the aftermath of a war in Afghanistan. You can also throw in numerous other events, like genocide in Sudan, an earthquake in Pakistan that killed an estimated 80,000 people, torture allegations against the United States, nuclear programs in Iran and North Korea, gay marriage and abortion debates and new legislation, and the list goes on. But no.\nNothing about any of these events made the Top 20 list. There are only two articles which can be remotely connected to anything of national significance. And when I say remotely, I mean very remotely. Like the-distance-between-Bloomington-and-Siberia remotely. \nOne is about Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Wash., admitting his vote for the war in Iraq was a mistake; the other is about a book called "100 People Who Are Screwing Up America." \nOther stories that made the list included one about a judge awarding $45,480 in a lawsuit involving the death of a cat, and a debate about the quotes on Starbucks cups. \nWhat does this say? That we are nothing but a bunch of ignorant brutes who only absorb information if it is crude or entertaining? That we are completely oblivious to our own nation, let alone the world around us? \nThat could be a possibility, but let's not cynically lay the blame entirely on ignorance or stupidity.\nIt might be a combination of ignorance and inundation of dismal news. Most of the newsworthy events I mentioned earlier are not happy topics. Maybe people are just tired of reading bad news. Maybe people are disillusioned and see no resolution to ongoing conflicts like the war in Iraq or the abortion debate. \nThough this is entirely understandable, it is no excuse for preferring to read stories about horse sex and Starbucks as opposed to stories about crucial events. \nThe second we become ignorant of the world is the second it begins to fall down around us.