In the village, the peaceful village...
...the Ah-nold speaks tonight.
Naturally, the only ‘debate’ he’s deemed worthy of his time, is the canned one, with pre-scripted questions.
Sure, televised political debate has always been not much more than a partially realized Reality-TV premise. Who can forget the vicarious thrill, watching Nixon come totally unglued and sweaty, right on camera, as he realized what a huge Loser he was, next to the Olympian presence of JFK? Or the time Carter smiled a priceless cat-with-mouse smile, as Gerry Ford made the blunder of his career, pronouncing Poland wasn't a puppet state of the USSR.
But those were back in the day when the media, the TV, although already annoyingly present in our lives, still wasn’t truly dominant. At least I thought I could avoid it and still know what my political leaders were up to. Now that we’ve all grown up with TV and TV has grown up with us, it’s in control. Politically. This may not be news, but it’s still amazing to me how complacent, flexible, adaptable, accomodating, we are. We first let it in our lives to entertain us. Now, we let it rule us. Escapism isn't the primary agenda anymore.
Reagan’s “There you go again” line, was a significant turning point. Although impromptu, it had the earmark of a line that only an actor would know to be a true show-stopper. A line worthy of a John Wayne matinee audience cheer. Everyone tries to play it that way these days. Of course, some people are better actors than others. The first Bush was far too painful to watch. Remember ‘read my lips?’ Dirty Harry, he wasn’t. His boy, well, let’s not even discuss his performance abilities…
Whether they move you, or not, politicians are all ready for prime time players now. And this time it’s our tax dollars, not just our disposable income, they control.
A recall, of the recall, to recall. It’s something I’ll leave to TIVO to figure out.
There isn't a way to shut this thing off, is there?
And oh yeah………how about those Giants and A’s! !!
...the Ah-nold speaks tonight.
Naturally, the only ‘debate’ he’s deemed worthy of his time, is the canned one, with pre-scripted questions.
Sure, televised political debate has always been not much more than a partially realized Reality-TV premise. Who can forget the vicarious thrill, watching Nixon come totally unglued and sweaty, right on camera, as he realized what a huge Loser he was, next to the Olympian presence of JFK? Or the time Carter smiled a priceless cat-with-mouse smile, as Gerry Ford made the blunder of his career, pronouncing Poland wasn't a puppet state of the USSR.
But those were back in the day when the media, the TV, although already annoyingly present in our lives, still wasn’t truly dominant. At least I thought I could avoid it and still know what my political leaders were up to. Now that we’ve all grown up with TV and TV has grown up with us, it’s in control. Politically. This may not be news, but it’s still amazing to me how complacent, flexible, adaptable, accomodating, we are. We first let it in our lives to entertain us. Now, we let it rule us. Escapism isn't the primary agenda anymore.
Reagan’s “There you go again” line, was a significant turning point. Although impromptu, it had the earmark of a line that only an actor would know to be a true show-stopper. A line worthy of a John Wayne matinee audience cheer. Everyone tries to play it that way these days. Of course, some people are better actors than others. The first Bush was far too painful to watch. Remember ‘read my lips?’ Dirty Harry, he wasn’t. His boy, well, let’s not even discuss his performance abilities…
Whether they move you, or not, politicians are all ready for prime time players now. And this time it’s our tax dollars, not just our disposable income, they control.
A recall, of the recall, to recall. It’s something I’ll leave to TIVO to figure out.
There isn't a way to shut this thing off, is there?
And oh yeah………how about those Giants and A’s! !!
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