Big Deal

Celebrities from the rarefied worlds of music and entertainment have decided to grant the rabble a noisy Hurricane Katrina benefit tonight, and their sycophants in the media have decided that we all must watch it. (That's what the beautiful people do: jet in for a few hours, hold a press conference to blast the president, and return to their mansions.) Excuse me, but in case they haven't noticed, the rest of the country has been on the job for two weeks.

Churches, mosques, synagogues, and private charities have been driving supplies down to the Gulf Coast, plucking people out of the water, and giving the newly homeless places to stay. The federal government just yesterday approved a $52 billion aid package. Most of us have thought of little else since the catastrophe occurred.

So I hope the glitterati won't take it too personally if I skip their big deal.