If pop culture is the politics of the 21st Century, what am I supposed to do with the real politicians that keep appearing on my TV or computer screen, on my car radio and in my magazines? Are they still relevant at all?

Watching the ceremonies today surrounding the start of the 110th Congress and the term of the first female Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, the answer is a resounding “no.”

You might be saying, hey, it’s the first day of the new Congress — so don’t expect too much substance. Today, however, sounded like most days I’ve tuned into C-SPAN — when I witness the ever-widening gap between what the politicians are saying and what actually gets done.

Granted, politics has always had theatrical elements to it, but now it is all theater. Whether it is Pelosi trying to appear soft and cuddly in front of the House or Senators outlining their “dreams” for America, politics has become posturing — positioning oneself in the most workable narrative of the day.

Actual policy — identifying problems and crafting laws — feels very far away. Sure, it will get done, but it happens in the background, in the mess of interest groups, pollsters and party strategists.

Within this context, why would the activists of the younger generations, looking for an outlet for their energies, ever actively watch and follow politicians — let alone consider becoming one themselves?

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not condemning “political theater.” The greatest American visions have always needed a narrative element through which they can inspire others. The best pop culture works on the same principle, combining a dynamic story, with lively characters and gripping conflicts, with a larger, often provocative and challenging, meaning.

The political theater we witness, however, on a day like today in Congress (and what we have seen most acutely in the presidential campaigns of the last few decades) is the appropriation of narrative for very self-serving, short-term ends. And, to an American youth attuned to a variety of narratives, they know a lame story when they see one.

Plus: The misuse of cultural narratives doesn’t end with politicians. The news channels have been all-too-eager to spend the bulk of their “political” coverage discussing the quality of the presentation rather than the intricacies of the policy. And, of course, no one is a worse offender than Fox.

Judy at News Hounds reports that Fox spent the day subtly denigrating Pelosi: “Pelosi does not fit the mold of ‘fair and balanced’ femininity espoused on Fox News: women are either innocent victims, like Natalee Holloway, or they are whores, like the accuser in the Duke lacrosse rape case. Pelosi threatens to upset Fox News entire world view. And that’s worse that repealing Bush’s tax cuts.”