A new low

Yesterday driving home in god-awful traffic I heard a commercial that at first I thought I must have misheard. The premise was so ridiculous I thought surely I must have misunderstood. Yet the next commercial break the same one came on and this time I listened more closely.

The commercial was for a lease on a 42" Plasma TV. Yes a lease on a TV. It was $199 a month for 24 months. And the come on was, something along the lines of you don't need any savings or good credit to enjoy the big game. I cannot imagine the level of a) retardation and b) desperation for someone to spend $4776 to have a $1500 TV for only 2 years. Hey but you gotta watch the game in style right? I believe your human rights will be violated if you watch the game on a 29" non-plasma.

And on an unrelated note Congress and Jorge W. will be sending out $1200 tax rebate checks to people who pay no taxes in order to stimulate the economy. Stimulate the economy by spending $160B on useless shit that nobody needs. One last ghasp at keeping the consumer economy above water before the collapse.