I have been a wrestling fan for as long as I can remember…From Hulkamania running wild in the 80’s (still remember the turkey sandwiches made during intermission of Survivor Series on thanksgiving nights at my cousin’s house), to the sparked revival of my interest during the rise of ECW in the mid 90’s, and up to the growth of the internet wrestling community, Netcop, and all the like.

I have spent roughly 20 years being a fan of wrestling and have spent a countless amount of money on merchandise and live shows. Even now, in the darkest hours of the sport, I still consider myself a fan.

And Vince McMahon doesn’t care about me at all.

Why should he? He knows he already has me hooked. There’s no need to address my concerns or interests. Even though a long term fan needs storylines that are cohesive and non-contradictory, Vince continues to ignore such needs. His goal, and rightfully so to a certain extent, is simply a matter of numbers; he has to bring in the casual fan. The average person who flips by the channel on a Monday night and has his eye caught is more important to Vince. The wrestling boom experienced in the late 90’s was based on this. Suddenly it became cool to wear 3:16 t-shirts and shout “smell what the rock is cooking”. The numbers were generated by these Johnny-Come-Lately fans. And while it spiked numbers, the problem is that they leave just as quickly.

Vince McMahon, just like every other creator, is too shortsighted to see the big picture. Watching Sportscenter lately has become a gut-wrenching experience. Real fans of sports can’t watch it, but I’m sure the causal television viewer loves the Entertainment aspects of it.

Every form of art degenerates to the lowest common denominator. It is impossible to be both popular and good. All genres are like ice bergs. At first, only the highest level is exposed. It’s the art at its purest form, and it generates interest. But to draw in a little more exposure, you have to widen the art. You dig a little deeper, make things a little more generic, and all of a sudden, you have a nice huge chunk of ice, but it’s below sea level.

Nothing of quality can exist, but it will be overshadowed or consumed by something more bland, but of higher quantity. A sitcom will inevitably become one dimensional as the characters become more X-treme to the max (see: friends Joey and Pheobe).

If this was JUST relevelant in a discussion of Art, I could accept it. Unfortunately, it’s true in all aspects of life, including politics. The democrats are the Vince McMahon of the political world. They know they essentially have me hooked, so they can move on to expanding their net to cast. They move more and more to the right in order to garner support from the slack jawed locals.

What can I do? I can’t NOT vote democrat. At least they are the lesser of two evils (and I’m not going to throw my vote away again like I did in 2000). Right? But, it drives me crazy that they don’t care about me and only throw me a bone every now and again. They are being very presumptuous to take me for granted.

I want a political party that’s not afraid to just be the tip of the iceberg. To stand up for something that they truly believe in… To not be afraid to offend the masses. We need to start moving the masses towards us, instead of us moving towards the masses (and their apathetic and generic agendas). If not, we’re doomed.

Come to think of it, I haven’t watched wrestling in months. Maybe Vince doesn’t have me as hooked as I thought.