by Joy Zhang ’14

On January 21, the nation watched as President Barack Obama made his second inaugural address. Unfortunately, the priorities of the viewers were extremely skewed. After Beyoncé’s amazing rendition of the National Anthem, many began to speculate if she had lip-synced it. Several news outlets and blogs have covered this story endlessly. Citizens seemed to focus more on Beyoncé’s performance rather than Obama’s speech. It is disappointing that instead of watching the inauguration to gain insight on what can and should be done for our country, many chose to watch so they could see their favorite artist perform. Instead of being inspired and motivated by what the president had said during his speech, people ignored his words and chose to angrily criticize a singer for lip-syncing. This should be wake up call for American citizens; people need to shift their distorted mindsets. Showing more concern towards entertainment than  politics will do nothing to change our world for the better.