What should I conclude from watching any of the televised Presidential candidate debates? I've tried to be open-minded about these collaborations the CNN is having with Youtube to capture questions. I'm struck by the similarities to a game show, hosted by Monty Hall, called "Let's Make a Deal", where the people called upon to try and guess the number of beans in a can of baked beans (or some such derring-do) were those in the most outlandish outfits (good TV).
We have folks 'from across this great land of ours' popping up in outfits so garish I forget not only whatever response a candidate has to the question, but the question itself. Welcome to 'it's the singer, not the song.' I never really 'got' the concept in 1992 behind the MTV sponsored 'boxers or briefs' query to the-then Democratic candidate for the Presidency (and realize x number of Monica's later, any answer is probably suspect) and here we are a decade and a half later elevating 'goofy' to an art form.
Would I feel better if a candidate for 'The Leader of the Free World' were to say to one of the inquisitors, "I'm sorry, but you look ridiculous and cheapen the tenor of this discussion. Come back when you look less like someone who called the shotgun seat in the clown car." Yeah, I would, but they won't, because then they're off screen and out of sight is out of mind. Especially because everyone (else) seems willing to do this as 'part of the process'.
Yes, we did all put on the hip boots and wander out into the fields....
-bill kenny
No comments:
Post a Comment