Opening Salvo
Aaron Zothelle gives a rueful smile and a sigh to Adrian Carver, ignoring the heat of the bright lights overhead as he prepares to answer the question asked of him. Carver isn’t taking it easy on him, which is good for the press that the League of Human Nationalists will receive from this broadcast. Still, Aaron wishes that Carver wasn’t so bloodthirsty in his investigation of the League.

“That’s a great question, Adrian. I think the biggest issue plaguing our society today is covetousness. Few people are truly happy with their own lots in life and so they look to celebrities and others to fill the void in their lives where God should be, which perpetuates a vicious cycle that only leads to more covetousness. You’ve got people following the love life of Anya Stark, for crying out loud, a young woman who’s grown up in the spotlight most of her life because her father is an American businessman, not to mention that she’s an heir to the Russian throne living in the West.” Zothelle says, leaning back slightly in his chair to affect a more conversational posture between himself and Adrian.

“The media circus surrounding Miss Stark is, however, only a symptom of the decline of the fabric of our society in this day and age. I’d like to discuss a /cause/ of that decline as well as a purveyor of said cause. I have to say that I’m most shocked and, frankly, appalled at another group of individuals who’ve recently garnered attention because they have advantages that most don’t. I’m talking about X-Factor, Adrian, and their ‘benefactor’, we’ll call him for the sake of those watching at home, one Julian Howard. Is nothing sacred to this young man?” Aaron asks, though the question is clearly rhetorical.

“He’s /exploiting/ these young people through sexual objectification, in the case of Lisa Graves, for the shock value of doing so. Or, he’s trying to promote anarchy and the destabilization of government by giving a group called “Now I Can Has Machinegun” a forum to promote radical ideologies. I’ll leave out the assault he’s making on proper English for the sake of time contraints, Adrian. Or, he’s holding up young men like Harry Reynolds as some sort of ‘gold standard’ that all young men should strive to adhere to.” Zothelle says, leaning in now, as though it’s just him and Adrian on camera.

“I’m embarrassed for the parents of these young people, who clearly don’t know or care enough to step in and rein in Mr. Howard’s unrelenting egomania and unchecked greed. He’s using these people as a meal ticket to finance his own dreams and pursuits, whatever those may be. We don’t really know much about this man who stepped out of obscurity and right into our living rooms to thrust his blatant infatuation with Homo Sapiens Superior, as they’re called. He doesn’t give interviews or return phone calls, from what I hear, but it’s quite clear that he believes that mutants are superior to humans and that he finds nothing wrong with young people taking any manner of dangerous shortcut they can to excel, such as drug use.” Zothelle says.

“I apologize, Adrian. I didn’t mean to go on a rant there, but I’m just confounded by the amount of media coverage given to this man and his ‘team’. Rather than speak to children on the importance of staying in school or honoring their parents, it seems that X-Factor revels in teaching young people that you’re only worth something if you’ve got abilities that others don’t have. If you’re a regular person like you, Adrian, or me or even Joe the Plumber, then you just don’t matter.

And I have a real issue with that.” Zothelle finishes.