Dear CNN: I Don't Care

Dear CNN: Here is some breaking news for you.

I do not care what Oprah's favorite things are. I do not care that Taylor Swift was named Time Magazine's person of the year. I do not care that Hunter Biden is facing legal charges.

You see, I could care less what millionaires and billionaires like or recommend. I don't care that Cher has a new perfume arriving just in time for Christmas. I like Cher's music and I have seen her in concert a couple of times. But I'm not going to rush out and buy her perfume simply because it has her name on it. CNN.com has a list of the "68 best celebrity-loved products that make great Christmas gifts." And I should care exactly why?

I am happy that Hunter Biden is facing criminal charges, just as I am happy that TFG is facing 91 felony charges. Anyone who breaks the law, or who is accused or breaking the law, should be held accountable. And that includes sons of presidents as well as former presidents.

I want people, regardless of who they are or how immensely wealthy they are, to be treated the same as I would be treated under the same circumstances. I used to, many years ago, hold a very high level security clearance. I worked with very classified documents. And I know for a fact that had I, or any of my colleagues, stolen even one classified document, as evidence proves TFG did, I would have been sentenced to years in prison.

I know, I know. This isn't the way the American system of justice works. But that is how it is supposed to work. You know, that whole thing about all people being created equal and all that.

If Hunter Biden is guilty, he should face an appropriate punishment. If TFG is guilty, he should face an appropriate punishment for each crime of which he is convicted. He should not get off just because he is a former president. He should not get away with claiming executive privilege. He should not get off because he is running for office again simply to avoid punishment.

The US justice system used to be something to which the world looked up. Sadly, that is no longer true, especially when Supreme Court justices have been bought and paid for by the very wealthy. And judges at all levels are supposed to make decision based on the law, not on the political leanings of the person who appointed them. That is another practice that has fallen by the wayside.

What I do care about is people, wealthy or not, doing something to help others. I do care about people using their time, talents and money to make this world we all share a better place.

I just finished reading a 700-page biography of primatologist and environmentalist Dr. Jane Goodall, whose entire life has been spent advocating for the protection of chimpanzees. She is considered to be the world's leading expert on chimpanzees. She is best known for her decades-long study of wild chimpanzees, which she began while still a secretary in Tanzania in 1960. She went on to earn her PhD from the University of Cambridge, England.

Goodall also founded the Jane Goodall Institute, a worldwide conservation organization, and she is a United Nations Messenger of Peace. She is the author of numerous scientific papers, books and children's books. She is a

a fierce advocate for the proper and humane treatment of chimpanzees in research laboratories and in zoos. As she approaches the age of 90, she continues to spend some 300 days of every year traveling the world, spreading her message and supporting the Roots and Shoots youth programs she founded years ago.

If I am to take advice or guidance from anyone, it will be someone like Jane Goodall, not Oprah. But Goodall doesn't waste her time endorsing products for "the perfect gift." She lives a life of calm and compassion rather than seeking ever more money and fame.

Why do CNN and other media outlets reports on what she and others like her are doing to improve life on planet Earth? Why the constant fascination with so-called celebrities whose only claim to fame is that they are famous?

Bring us news about people -- celebrities as well as ordinary people -- who are devoting themselves to improving lives. Maybe such stories will inspire others to follow their lead.