From Tim Goodman of the San Francisco Chronicle:

You are now soaking in TV-Turnoff Week, one of those eat-your- vegetables, big-vision ideas that turn out, in the end, to be asinine.

Really, it's a stupid idea. Unless, of course, you're addicted to television like crack. And since that's the default cliche plastered on TV for 50 years or so, it must be true, right? You're either reading the New Yorker or you're in dirty underwear sitting on a ratty couch completely spellbound by "My Wife and Kids."

Why is do-gooderism so annoying? Why is it that people who can't control the universe or be kings or dictators or get through a dinner party without alienating everyone end up fronting groups meant to make you a better person? [I can commiserate - we recently had someone like this over for brunch. - RG]

Listen, if you need to turn off your TV for a week in order to get some fresh air or read a book or prod your kid out of the living room and into the light of day, then you've got a problem. Leave the rest of us with brains, resolve and actual parenting skills alone. Be gone.

This is the sad fate of the bastard machine: to be blamed for everything. "Oh, my television casts such a spell over me that I'm unable to do anything about it. I'm a helpless victim! For God's sake, will someone come to my house and unplug it?"

Read the whole article - it's hilarious! There is always someone out there who thinks they know what's best for you. Personally I couldn't stand that kind of well-meant condescention from my parents, and I sure as hell can't stand it from speial interest groups, regardless of whether or not their backed by a nanny state. I'm a grown up - I'll decide what is and isn't good for me. And "ists" (activists, feminists, et al) are not good for me.