Two For All And All For Two
Today's the day that everyone has been waiting for breathlessly, the day of the Iowa caucuses, the Super Bowl of the elctoral process, the day the presidential campaign ends. That last, of course, isn't true. It just seems that way. It's still going to go on for another ten months, until next November. That's when the 2012 presidential campaign begins with a special edition of Chris Matthews' Hard Ball, as a pack of bloviating pundits will start handicapping the candidates who'll be trumpeting their love of Jesus and calling for change like a debutante who can't decide what to wear to the ball until 2016. I can't believe I'm actually looking forward to the new American Idol as welcome relief from it all. Just kidding! It's called democracy, folks, and we have to embrace it. Aside from the fact they didn't have television, it was as messy for the Founding Fathers. It's just that then the game was only played by rich white men.
posted by John M Crowther @ 7:30 AM
7 Comments:
John (and others of you who have reached a certain seniority) may recall the moment when cable television first came in. It was predicted then, way back then, that these multi-channels would be filled with independent experimental feature films produced at low-budget in small towns all over America; the thinking being that these inexpensive motion pictures would fill all that time these new channels had at their disposal. Little did we idealists know that the obvious solution would not be cinema art high and low but endless re-runs of the Three Stooges. In our time, 24/7 news shows have been proven to be even cheaper: putting a few pundits in front of the camera is even more cost-effective than filming three stooges, although difficult at times to tell the difference. Is it is the destiny of this once great democracy that we will forever be subjected to faux news -- the Iowa caucus being today’s prime example?
Good Lord, prof, you and I remember when television first came in, not just the cable incarnation.
I saw TV for the first time as a child when my family visited the World's Fair in NY in 1939. I never visualized it becoming such a popular or important item in a home.
I prefer to read a good book and usually just watch the news.... Also like the radio talk shows.
Or is it much ado about nothing? Was glad to see that Ohbama won because it shows that maybe we are becoming somewhat colour blind but sad to see that Hillary come in third. She deserved better than that. Was surprised to see that Huckabee came in first but do not think that he can maintain the lead for long. Very weird happenings in Iowa tonight.
John Edwards came the closest to venting my feelings about the system. roger
Iowa is Iowa and New Hampshire New Hampshire and never the twain shall meet. Perhaps in a few days time Clinton will come out first and Obama last, Giuliani will win or Giuliani will lose. Our pundits will then have yet another opportunity to scratch their heads and chatter endlessly in the time left over between commercials. The next day what these self-proclaimed experts have said or predicted will be all forgotten, even by those who have spoken. What I would love to see is a show in which these ladies and gentlemen would have the watch endless loops of all the false predictions and wrong analyses they have made in the past. That would be truly entertaining!
Indeed, prof. What struck fear in my heart was all the candidates, both winners and losers, proclaiming "this is just the beginning." Did they need to remind us, when we're already exhausted?
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