Sheen madness, Cont'd

Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus is shocked and perplexed at the "spectacle of the celebrity in drug-fueled, alcohol-induced, sycophant-enabled collapse" of Charlie Sheen. She has plenty of company. She writes: "Call me Number 1,279,090. That would be my place among the ranks of Twitter followers amassed by public meltdown artist Charlie Sheen in little more than 24 hours. If there is a better illustration of the decline of American culture, the triumph of technology over privacy, and the end of shame as a motivating force, I can't think of one." I mostly follow big-name journalists on Twitter. Many are following Sheen. They include Willie Geist (Morning Joe), Ed Henry (CNN), Josh Marshall (TPM), and Luke Russert (NBC), among others. That's quite a line-up. I'll extend these folks the benefit of the doubt and presume they're in the rope-line for news gathering purposes. Marcus wrote that Sheen had 1,328,407 followers as she finished her piece. As I finish mine, that number has grown to 1,591,434. I don't whether to laugh or cry.