Both were great! I mean phenomenal! Entertainment at its best!
Obama taking Colbert’s place and ridiculing himself in the third person was hysterical. Hillary’s going toe-to-toe with Colbert in a namedropping contest was brilliantly funny.
Whoa! I’ve still got major giggles, folks. I’m burping up so many LOLs, I’m having trouble even writing this!
But it goes deeper. Beyond being incredibly entertained, the astonishing thing for me personally was how much I really reallyliked them. Yes . . . I am being sincere!
I’ve certainly pulled no punches on either the President or Ms. Clinton in previous blogs. Anyone who has read my stuff knows I’m no fan of either. (What an understatement, eh?)
But on a ‘like’ scale of 1 to 10?
No doubt about it . . . they are both solid 10s!
Which brings me to the point of this piece.
What has likeability got to do with competence or leadership?
In this age where the science of crafting image and shaping perception has reached levels of sophistication no one could have anticipated even ten years ago, it hardly comes as a surprise that public figures look good, always say the right things, know how to pour on the charm, excel at doing everything needed to have people follow them around like they’re warm-toasted S’mores Bars at a fat farm for insatiable sugar-addicts.
Unfortunately, like a lot of things these days that are finger-lickin’ good and a belly full of lip-smackin’ fun, that doesn’t mean they’re good for you.
As with way too much in our advertising-heavy, product-saturated consumer world, we must carefully read the label and do some serious research to see what’s going on behind all the affable hype and feel-good packaging.
As I have argued before, conflating beauty contests and entertainment with politics is a dangerous game. Making the election of political leaders like choosing the prom king and queen doesn’t just trivialize democracy. It destroys it.
Sure, feeling warm and cuddly about our government officials is a pleasant thought, and maybe desirable on some superficial level. Both Obama and Ms. Clinton exude charm, are amiable and very videogenic. Judging from their acclaimed guest appearances on Comedy Central, both have all the right qualities to host their own television shows, either serious and thoughtful, or comedic and fun. That’s well and good.
But the true measure of constructive, visionary leadership is not how effectively they deliver one-liners, what nice people they appear to be, how down-to-earth they are, or even how picture-perfect they are with their families.
The true measure is on the larger national and international stages what set of values they represent, what ideas they offer, what plans they embrace and promote, what promise of peace and prosperity they achieve, what path they lay out for shaping the future of America, both for us and generations to come.
I say we keep things in perspective.
Both of these American icons are very talented people. Isn’t there some Biblical injunction about proper use of talents? I sincerely believe we should put their real talents to work.
Sarah Palin __ god help us __ has her own subscriber television channel. Much admired and forward-looking patriot that she is, dear Sarah has laid the groundwork. Let’s take the baton and run with it!
We’ve seen what these two are capable of on TV.
How about a Barack Obama Channel.
A Hillary Clinton Channel.
Why not?
This is what America is all about. It’s what make our nation great!
We’ve endured Obama’s stealthy alliance with the neocons, corporatists, the imperialists and oligarchs. We’ve found every excuse in the book for his putting the needs of banks and corporations before the needs of the people. We’ve averted our gazes as he started more wars and killed innocent civilians with drones. Not much we can do about that now.
But we still have a choice with Ms. Clinton. Forget the pretty picture on the outside of the package, folks. Start reading the fine print on the label before it’s too late. Let’s nudge this self-serving sociopath out of politics and into show business where she belongs.
The Hillary Channel: Name-Dropping, Self-Promoting Hillary, All Day Everyday24-7!
I like it!
Enough said. To end this on a positive note, I will now throw a bone to the diehard Obama apologists and lets-elect-a-pair-of-ovaries-for-president Hillary supporters out there, who may have accidentally stumbled on my blog site, showing what a doggone open-minded guy I am, proving along the way that I am without question, a truly gracious blog host.
Appearing below are the two Stephen Colbert show segments that had me belly-laughing, happy-slapping-my-knee, and rolling on the floor with delight. Together they provide the perfect laugh track for the final self-indulgent excesses of an empire in decline.
I really like them!
The other day I watched two historic segments from the Stephen Colbert show.
One featured President Obama and the other Hillary Clinton.
Both were great! I mean phenomenal! Entertainment at its best!
Obama taking Colbert’s place and ridiculing himself in the third person was hysterical. Hillary’s going toe-to-toe with Colbert in a namedropping contest was brilliantly funny.
Whoa! I’ve still got major giggles, folks. I’m burping up so many LOLs, I’m having trouble even writing this!
But it goes deeper. Beyond being incredibly entertained, the astonishing thing for me personally was how much I really really liked them. Yes . . . I am being sincere!
I’ve certainly pulled no punches on either the President or Ms. Clinton in previous blogs. Anyone who has read my stuff knows I’m no fan of either. (What an understatement, eh?)
But on a ‘like’ scale of 1 to 10?
No doubt about it . . . they are both solid 10s!
Which brings me to the point of this piece.
What has likeability got to do with competence or leadership?
In this age where the science of crafting image and shaping perception has reached levels of sophistication no one could have anticipated even ten years ago, it hardly comes as a surprise that public figures look good, always say the right things, know how to pour on the charm, excel at doing everything needed to have people follow them around like they’re warm-toasted S’mores Bars at a fat farm for insatiable sugar-addicts.
Unfortunately, like a lot of things these days that are finger-lickin’ good and a belly full of lip-smackin’ fun, that doesn’t mean they’re good for you.
As with way too much in our advertising-heavy, product-saturated consumer world, we must carefully read the label and do some serious research to see what’s going on behind all the affable hype and feel-good packaging.
As I have argued before, conflating beauty contests and entertainment with politics is a dangerous game. Making the election of political leaders like choosing the prom king and queen doesn’t just trivialize democracy. It destroys it.
Sure, feeling warm and cuddly about our government officials is a pleasant thought, and maybe desirable on some superficial level. Both Obama and Ms. Clinton exude charm, are amiable and very videogenic. Judging from their acclaimed guest appearances on Comedy Central, both have all the right qualities to host their own television shows, either serious and thoughtful, or comedic and fun. That’s well and good.
The true measure is on the larger national and international stages what set of values they represent, what ideas they offer, what plans they embrace and promote, what promise of peace and prosperity they achieve, what path they lay out for shaping the future of America, both for us and generations to come.
I say we keep things in perspective.
Both of these American icons are very talented people. Isn’t there some Biblical injunction about proper use of talents? I sincerely believe we should put their real talents to work.
Sarah Palin __ god help us __ has her own subscriber television channel. Much admired and forward-looking patriot that she is, dear Sarah has laid the groundwork. Let’s take the baton and run with it!
We’ve seen what these two are capable of on TV.
How about a Barack Obama Channel.
A Hillary Clinton Channel.
Why not?
This is what America is all about. It’s what make our nation great!
Television!
On the other hand, as to our Nobel Peace Prize President and the lady who engineered the destruction of Libya as a nation . . . let’s be clear about our political future.
We’ve endured Obama’s stealthy alliance with the neocons, corporatists, the imperialists and oligarchs. We’ve found every excuse in the book for his putting the needs of banks and corporations before the needs of the people. We’ve averted our gazes as he started more wars and killed innocent civilians with drones. Not much we can do about that now.
But we still have a choice with Ms. Clinton. Forget the pretty picture on the outside of the package, folks. Start reading the fine print on the label before it’s too late. Let’s nudge this self-serving sociopath out of politics and into show business where she belongs.
The Hillary Channel: Name-Dropping, Self-Promoting Hillary, All Day Everyday 24-7!
I like it!
Enough said. To end this on a positive note, I will now throw a bone to the diehard Obama apologists and lets-elect-a-pair-of-ovaries-for-president Hillary supporters out there, who may have accidentally stumbled on my blog site, showing what a doggone open-minded guy I am, proving along the way that I am without question, a truly gracious blog host.
Appearing below are the two Stephen Colbert show segments that had me belly-laughing, happy-slapping-my-knee, and rolling on the floor with delight. Together they provide the perfect laugh track for the final self-indulgent excesses of an empire in decline.
Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_5a15EjMWRw