September 12, 2012: One Interesting Thing - Does Dief Have A Son? Who Cares!

Yeah. This falls into a number of categories. Who cares? Why is it any of my business? Why are some media outlets (especially CTV and the National Post from what I've seen, but others as well) so interested in this. A man named George Dryden claims that he's the illegitimate son of former Prime Minister John Diefenbaker. Some have begun calling him the "Diefenbaby." He's making a concerted effort to find DNA evidence to support his claim to the point at which the current big story is "a waxy, days-old cotton swab obtained surreptitiously by a private investigator tasked with garnering a sample from a man believed related to the former prime minister." That's commitment. Or somebody should be committed. Or something. Really - who cares? All right. George Dryden cares. I can see that. He wants to know who his father was. I personally don't know anything about my father, either, and I don't really care - but if George cares, I can see that. Diefenbaker's family might care. I can see that. I don't think the family is wealthy, but historical legacy and all - although Dief was arguably the worst Prime Minister Canada has ever had, so what legacy is there to begin with? But otherwise I just find myself fascinated that the mainstream media can so easily become smitten with what is really no more than tabloid fodder. I don't care if this guy is Diefenbaker's son. No one I know cares whether this guy is Diefenbaker's son. So why does the media care? Sometimes I wonder about the priorities of the fourth estate. I'd post pictures of Diefenbaker and the Diefenbaby, because there is a bit of a resemblance between them - but, again, who really cares?