Who's On First?

Who’s On First?

by

R.E. Prindle

 

While I was impressed by the St. Anselm presentation of the Republican so-called debates of 2/6/16 I couldn’t help but note by the accumulated effect of these strange extravaganzas that a new paradigm in elections is being premiered not unlike the Nixon-Kennedy election of 1960 that premiered the notion of debates and was the first truly TV election that established new norms.

Now, fifty-five years later we premier the election as an all-singing, all-dancing Hollywood extravaganza.  Hey, it is all entertainment folks and this is the really big shoo: Bring on the clowns.

This notion was heightened by the Heads comparing the Debates to the Super Bowl of the following day.  The contestants, I mean, candidates were even introduced football fashion, emerging one by one through a tunnel.  The entrance was made high comedy when Carson and Trump stopped halfway through forcing the others to push around them.

At one point you could see an employee stick his head outside the curtain using hand signals to move the two along.  Kasich the last man out stood back with a ‘what’s going on here’ look on his face.  I was laughing too.  Finally after prompting from the head Head Carson and Trump took their positions but they had made their point.

Carson had some limp official explanation the next day of what happened but, I don’t know.  Both Trump and Carson had their legitimate grievances stemming from the Showdown At The Iowa Corral.  Plus, all season long the Heads have been treating the candidates like so many clowns asking insulting even belittling questions trying to get a rise.  These are presidential candidates, friends and acquaintances, not comedians to give us a laugh.

All channels, even St. Anselm, have treated the candidates with great disrespect from the first debate.  The female Heads greeting, Hi guys, was reprehensible.

Sure, I can understand why the Insiders don’t want an Outsider elected but at the same time the Insiders should be bright enough to understand that our acceptance of Trump and Carson is a rejection of Insider policies.  In other words, Insiders, your policies are unacceptable to the American people.  Dig it.

The candidates rather than letting the networks set the procedures should combine and give the networks the marching orders. It is never going to be fair otherwise.

Rather than this sixty second BS the candidates should be given five minute segments to lay out their programs then a five minute question and answer debating period.  I’m no Rubio fan but his thirty second memorized sound bite is perfectly understandable to me.  Since you can’t get anything substantial out in a minute or thirty seconds you may as well deliver a set of slogans which is what Trump does, but then…he has been an entertainer, and a good one.

Still I commend Christie for bringing the Waterboy down.

This format may be a one-time thing but the principle of Politics as Entertainment will remain.

That’s why the Democrats are losing.  They’re boring.  No entertainment value there.