NP: Joe Satriani, Flying In A Blue Dream

Real Time with Bill Maher has been pretty entertaining for the last couple of weeks, with a, um, "spirited debate" between Michael Eric Dyson and Andrew Breitbart last week, and then a great interview with Madeline Albright and much more left-leaning panel last week, but last week's "New Rules" was the kicker, especially this bit:

Which brings me to AIG. Not really, but there is a connection, which is, when did Americans become the something-for-nothings? When did we get this Lotto mentality that our only chance for success was to be plucked from obscurity and dropped onto Bret Michaels' Love Bus?

Or maybe it was when the super-wealthy - you know, the ones who create jobs when they get huge tax breaks - except they don't; they buy antique commodes and lap dances - maybe it was when those "job creators" stopped trickling the money down, leaving the working class with none of the gains and all of the cynicism that goes with thinking the game is fixed.

Maybe that's what leads to "Guitar Hero" culture, where everyone wants to be a rock star, but nobody wants to learn the chords.

You know, Paris and Nicole and Kim are nice girls. But, let's not forget, they do and have done nothing. Not even acted in anything they'd admit to. But, they're not reviled or dismissed for being ciphers. They're adored for it. Because they exemplify the national ideal: they got a lot for doing nothing.

Emphasis mine, because that really, really nails it to the wall.