Today, Salon asks the question: “Is voting for Sanjaya subversive?” Here’s one response by Todd Gitlin:

Is it ’subversive’ to vote for Sanjaya? It’s fun, and defensible — which ought to be enough to justify a minor activity. In a tiny way, it twists the pseudo-democracy of a media-saturated universe. But subversive? Any more subversive than not watching the show? It would seem to me more ’subversive’ to apply the precious minutes you would have spent watching ‘American Idol’ lobbying for universal healthcare, or against mindless war spending. I note, by the way, that the VoteForTheWorst.com, yes-on-Sanjaya campaign accepts the premise that voting for singers is a worthy activity. Thus: ‘Many good people are turned away and many bad singers are kept around to see Simon, Paula and Randy so that America will be entertained.’ Fine, but please don’t tell me that there’s anything ’subversive’ about the goal of ‘making a more entertaining show.’

Thanks for your commentary, douche! What an ass. No one asked him to define the word “subversive.” Just for the record: Todd Gitlin is a media critic. He makes his living looking way too deeply at phenomena like American Idol. And then he critiques people for watching television. Like, it’s okay for him to watch TV, because he’s viewing it through the correct lens, but the rest of us need to be guided by a genius like him. This paragraph is all I need to know about Todd Gitlin to officially proclaim him a hypocritical dick licker.

Now, this does not mean that I care one iota about someone’s motivation behind voting for an American Idol candidate. Yes, in a perfect world, people would take as much joy in the political process as they do in Idol. But why would you say that in response to a question by a media critic about a media phenomenon? I wonder how much time Todd Gitlin has spent “lobbying for universal healthcare.”

Does anyone else have any stories about this pompous douchebag? I know I’ve seen his name before, although I can’t remember where.

Update: And then we have Greil Marcus, author of the intensely amazing Lipstick Traces: A Secret History of the 20th Century:

“The notion of controversy over people voting for the guy whose hair stands up assumes that the previous winners are not national embarrassments.”

Now that’s a guy I want critiquing my media for me. Ha! Calling the winners of American Idol “national embarrassments”! Too, too awesome.