If there is any cardinal benchmark that one can use to measure someone's relevance and influence today, it has to be that person's rankings in a simple Google search. It sounds counterintuitive but the fact is we live in a computerized world and it's no longer just about how much money you have, how many times you've appeared on television or radio, how many times your name is printed in the papers, or the amount of albums you've sold as an entertainer; the fact is if your name (I mean anything unique to your, there is always a chance that someone has the exact same name as you) isn't showing up on the first three pages of the Google search results it means you're just not there yet. For example, I typed my name in the Google search box and only found one entry about myself for the first 10 pages. It had to do with an article I commented on, on the bbcnews website. So in that sense I'm a virtual nobody but I figure that's the case with many of you who are reading this diary. I'm not trying to insult you or anything I'm just trying to make the point that most of us are just average people.
On the other hand, some people have been blessed with fame (or cursed depending on who you are) and have become a star of their own show which is their life while the rest of us have been reduced to mere spectators in this new world of celebrity. So let me rephrase my central point, the Google search rankings is really the greatest indication of an individual's celebrity today. Britney Spears is probably the first name that comes to mind when one thinks of the word celebrity. Supporting this is the fact that a simple search for her on Google yields almost 100 million results and that's just mind boggling to say the least. On the other hand, a search for another famous blond: Paris Hilton yields roughly 70 million results and while that's hot - in the word of the heiress - one can deduce that Britney is far more famous and influential than Paris because she is topping her rankings on Google by almost 30 million.
Switch gears to the political world, you probably have to be from another planet or even galaxy to have not heard of chimpy (George Bush). Attesting to this fact, a search for the retard-in-chief (George W. Bush) produces (drum roll please) 57 million results. I kid you not, Britney and Paris bested Bush in the rankings. While not wanting to sound over the top, I think it says alot about the stature of the Presidency today. It seems that Bush is down in every indicator you can find. He gave Deal or No Deal it's worst ratings when he appeared on the program. Who (excluding John McSame) want to appear anywhere close to this man anymore?
Let's get to the real meat of this diary, the reason why I really put out the effort to write. Today I'm proud to announce another victory for my hero Keith Olbermann. I am a fiercely loyal fan of Keith and I know you are too. This victory that I'm talking about is not the fact that his ratings are soaring and Countdown recently beat O'Reilly by as much as 100, 000 viewers in a key demo, it's not the fact that our hero has an exclusive interview with Scott McClellan tonight on his program, it is not the fact that he is a Super-hero of the netroots and his diaries here on DKos frequently fetch more than 1000 comments, it's also not the fact that his Special Comments have been making waves and have caused the right to stand up and pay attention what I'm talking is the fact that America's hero Keith Olbermann consistently crush his arch-nemesis O'Reilly in the Google rankings. A simple search for our hero yields 2, 110, 000 while a search for O'Reilly yields an anorexic 696,000. You may be saying this is not such a big deal but it absolutely is. Billo is an egomaniac who lives breathes and eats ratings. I mean, he really has these delusions of grandeur which is just far from reality. He claims that he somehow speaks for the rest of America because, in his own words "more people watch my program than the other guy's". Well Billo if you were that important, why is it that you are barely toping 500 thousand results in the Google search rankings while the other guy who you claim is not as relevant commands more than 2 million?
I say watch out right wing lunatic fringers, there is a new Sherriff in town. Keith Rules!