Back from the Grave

You'd think it might be nice after all these years to see John Lennon once again jumping into the fray and making public statements. But, oddly, it's not. It might have something to do with him having been dead for nearly thirty years. Or it may be that he's weighing in on something he knows nothing about.

A group called One Laptop per Child has licensed John to be their spokesman. Perhaps they did this by pulling out their Ouija boards, or maybe they just talked to Yoko. I mention the Ouija board because they're not just using a photo or suggesting that this is something that he might've supported if he'd still been with us. No, they've actually got him hawking the product in his own voice (or at least their attempt at a reasonable facsimile), imagining a world where every poor child has a laptop (I suppose it's easy, if you try). John has often been called a visionary, but I'm not sure he actually foresaw the development of laptop computer technology. In fact, I'd guess that the word didn't even exist during his lifetime (not with that meaning, anyway). This might be a worthy enterprise (although I remember Newt Gingrich calling for something similar a dozen or so years ago), but I find it awfully off-putting for them to push it in this way.

Of course, maybe I'm wrong. Is anybody lining up to donate?