From one prurient, salacious, gossipy bonfire of the vanities to another—Jodi Arias, for example—we seem to be devolving into a “culture” of media-addicted ambulence chasers. While details unfold about the latest heartland atrocity, no details are unfolding about Benghazi, or Fukushima, or Syria.

Besides, it’s so much easier for Mr. and Mrs. Front Porch to understand crimes of passion than to demand answers about political decisions — CIA, Department of Justice—these require actually digging for facts and being able to understand implications.

Our refusal to think is going to pound that last nail into the sinking ship that is our collective culture.

But that’s just me.