I called my sister this afternoon to see if she had reached her road trip destination safely and the first thing she says to me is, "I just can't believe Anna Nicole died!" Later, I'm watching "Entertainment Tonight" and Mary Hart asks Vanssa Minillo if Grammy Award rehearsals were still going on as scheduled. (Like they would CANCEL them?) It's been fascinating to see how the death of this poor trainwreck of a woman (take note younger trainwrecks Britney, Paris, Lindsay) has literally taken over the media. The only other story the local news showed tonight was a "storm watch" feature.
I think maybe it's because even though Anna Nicole Smith was a trainwreck, she was our trainwreck and we always thought we'd have her around for entertainment. The death of her son Danny was obviously something she could not recover from. And if she wasn't the most stable person in the world, she probably did not get the best parenting. I've seen Anna Nicole's scary mother a few tmes on TV today (what. a. creep.) and she wants custody of the baby. Someone stop her! And now Zsa Zsa Gabor's husband, a German prince of some kind, thinks he might be the baby's father. What utter madness. This is never going to end. The court battles, the headlines. It is unbelievable. But one thing that made me care even an iota about Anna Nicole was the obvious love she had for the son she lost and I think think that's why we care more than we thought we would.
It was such a big coincidence that if you were watching "The View" yesterday, you would have witnessed an eerie exhange about Anna Nicole between Rosie O'Donnell and the ladies who were talking about the Iraq war and how frivilous news was distracting from coverage of it:
Rosie O’Donnell: “Because it’s the art of distraction. You know, big things going on in the news and if I have to see Anna Nicole Smith one more time on television, that woman and her paternity test. And she can hardly even speak now. She’s like something and she can’t even speak. She's like uuuhhhhh, you know. It's a tragedy all around. Her son died. She has this little baby. There’s obviously some kind of medication or substance involved. I don't know.?
Elisabeth Hasselbeck: “That's an odd situation.?
O’Donnell: “Or not involved, even worse. But it's sort of like distracting, the art of distraction. They don't want you to think about the things that are real.? 
Joy Behar: “You’re right. That’s right.?
Hasselbeck: “Who doesn't??
O’Donnell: “I think our culture now.?
Hasselbeck: “You think the Republicans are putting Anna Nicole on the TV??
O’Donnell: “No.?
Hasselbeck: “I just wanted to check.?
Behar: “No. You can't blame the Republicans for everything.?
O’Donnell: “No.?
Hasselbeck: “We were there before. I just needed to take a test.?
O’Donnell: “‘Why not,’ said a man in the audience. Love you. I don't know who you are but I want to have lunch.?

Less than an hour later, Anna Nicole Smith was dead.