Larry King, George Bush, John Kerry, and Jesus

Every so often, someone in the public eye leaves me simply dumbfounded. The latest example of this is Larry King's admission he's never used the Internet. Well, that's a bit of a misstatement, as regardless of whether we personally interact with a web browser or send e-mail, we all utilitze services provided through the Internet.

Part of me thinks Larry was just having fun with us, but that's a very small part. More likely, it was one of those moments where an elite unknowingly reveals how disconnected he is from the life most lead - such as when the former President Bush expressed amazement at the supermarket checkout barcode scanner. That said, maybe I should cut George some slack, suggests Mark Steyn:

In 1992, pictures of a baffled George Bush père marvelling as a supermarket clerk demonstrated a barcode scanner were seized on by the media as evidence of how out of touch he was. But barcode scanners were introduced to supermarkets during his 12 years at the White House, and a sitting president or vice-president doesn't get many opportunities to go grocery shopping. The difference between Bush Snr and Kerry is that Prince John of Gaunt seems far more isolated from the rhythms of American life and he hasn't even got to the White House yet.

As for John Kerry, mmm... no slack for that guy. What a gift to the American people was that "joke gone wrong", since it pretty much sealed his fate as a non-President.

BTW, it's interesting to note that for someone who's never use the Internet, the phrase "Larry King" generates 1.6 million hits in a google search. Then again, "Jesus" returns almost exactly 100 times as many hits as King, and I don't think he's used the Internet personally. And he certainly is not an elitist. ;-)