Britney Spears needs to go away...

I really wish Britney Spears would go away.

Seriously, folks, haven't we had enough of Brit and her babies, K-Fed and all her antics by now? Aren't there better things with which to concern ourselves?

That brings me to another thing... The Rosie O'Donnell-Donald Trump feud? Will CNN just stop feeding the frenzy of this insane conflict and not do a story EVERY time one or more of them responds to the other's latest degrading rant? We're supposed to be civilized people here — can we act like it, please?

Again, aren't there better things with which to concern ourselves?

I know I'm a fan of a little news of the weird every now and then, but it seems America has just gone OVERBOARD with interest in celebrity lifestyles. Every thing they do — even if they blow their nose in public — seems to generate media coverage these days... not just from the tabloids, but from "mainstream" media like CNN, Fox News, USA Today.

It's one thing if celebrities are doing a new film, recording new music, doing a play, writing a book, etc., etc. That might be worth reading about... but, seriously, folks, do we need breaking news on CNN every time the afore-mentioned Ms. Spears leaves the house without underwear?

That I could do without.

What we really should be focusing on is the fact that our president (who, in recent months, I have come to believe he should fire his whole staff of advisors) is about to send another 21,500 of our soldiers to Iraq to "help the Iraqis break the current cycle of violence." What, the more than 120,000 U.S. soldiers already over there aren't enough? What good will another 21,000-plus troops be able to do? Why aren't we effectively using the ones we've got there already? Do we really want to risk more American lives? Is having tens of thousands of our soldiers already in the line of fire not enough?

But again, we see continued coverage about The Donald-Rosie feud on every major news network and website. While both have said some pretty nasty things about each other, why should we care about it? The answer is we shouldn't.

I'm more worried about the fact that there is an escaped con who is likely loose in my community and probably armed.

I'm more worried about the fact that some of the city leaders where I live just can't seem to resist taking political potshots at each other, not caring what damage they do in the process to the future progress of our town.

I'm more worried about whether those running for local, state and national offices the next couple of years will actually discuss issues facing us with some REAL substance and a vision to address them, instead of the usual mudslinging and party-line rhetoric that seems to get worse with each election season.

I guess people fixate on celebrities' lives to forget about their own problems. But at some point we — just like them — have to deal with what's facing us. Until then, I' really don't need to know if Lindsey Lohan got drunk again or Paris Hilton is romancing yet ANOTHER boyfriend.

It's time we get over it. By jingo golly, we sure need to.