The Triangle

Issue date: 11/16/07 Section: Ed-Op

UWire) - Writers across the nation are fighting injustice as they bravely stand up to the evils of corporate America in their picket lines.

Social Security is on the brink of collapse, the dollar is plummeting toward new lows, and Iran is on the verge of acquiring nuclear weapons - but at least celebrity writers are showing the nasty entertainment industry who's boss.

I don't even think The Onion could have made up a story as asinine as this.

The recent strike by the Writers Guild of America is a painful reminder of how low greed has sunk in America. Here we have people working in the entertainment business, whose job is to write scripts - on strike?

These people have literally been given the opportunity of a lifetime and are being paid handsomely for it, but they still find it necessary to nickel and dime their bosses?

It would be understandable if the strike were being put on by a union whose employees are being oppressed by their employers into doing unreasonably hard labor for low wages and long hours. That is, after all, why the idea of a "strike" exists.

But Hollywood writers? The arrogance behind those picket lines is astounding.

Many famous talk show hosts have refused to cross the picket line, forcing the networks to play reruns of their shows until the strike ends. David Letterman and Jay Leno will both be taking a nice vacation until this group of delusional writers snap back into reality.

Of course, celebrity do-nothings like Leno are being applauded for their refusal to cross the picket line. They are celebrated as heroes championing the rights the poor and mistreated.

What isn't being mentioned is that NBC is going to be laying off all non-writing staff for The Tonight Show by the end of this week, as was reported by Broadcasting & Cable, an industry trade magazine. While defending the "disenfranchised," Leno is causing layoffs for the truly hard-working staff on his show.

The attitude of the writer's guild is typical of people with too much free time. Eventually, they start imagining different "rights" they have, demanding some sort of justice. If it persists long enough, they might even convince a few people to join their side.

No one should be expected to feel sorry for a group of people who were given an opportunity of a lifetime, and have decided they feel cheated over royalty prices.

Instead, we should be ashamed to see so many Americans willing to acknowledge this strike as a legitimate cause. We should be ashamed to see how much our society is fostering such selfishness and greed.

We should be ashamed, not because oppressed writers around America are having their rights trampled on, but because we've somehow managed to teach them to think like middle school students.

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