Peter Krupa

Did I miss something? Or is CNN just taking that “don’t speak bad about the dead” thing much too seriously? The occasion is the death of Anna Nicole Smith. I’m not really sure who that is, except that I think she posed for some naked pictures, then got fat, then had a reality show, then got thin, then married some ancient rich guy, then the rich guy died, then there was some legal stuff, then… more naked pictures? I’m just not sure.

Now she’s dead, and I figure, well, another blond with huge tits has passed away. Need we mourn? Nay, for there are more, and more better ones.

But other people had apparently taken to vicarious living through Ms. Nicole Smith. And they’d taken it to a frightening level. Sharon Smith of Talladega, Alabama, was “deeply saddened” by Ms. Nicole Smith’s demise. Allen Pursley of Washington, D.C., commented that, “Her passing is very sad and unfortunate and there will always be a unique void that will be empty since she is gone.”

You’ve heard of the Jesus void. There is also apparently an Anna Nicole Smith void. Deby Marks of Grafton, West Virginia muses, “What will I remember? Her sadness, her innocence, her beauty.” Meanwhile, Trace C. of Sacramento, California, noted poignantly that, “She was a gifted soul that wasn’t meant for this world.”

So seriously, did I miss something? Or is this just America being as shallow and maudlin as it knows how?