The more I think about it, I'm not so sure we should label this thing “politics”. Sure the candidates are all politicians; the offices they work in and are vying for are political. But just because they’re politicians doesn’t mean that what we watch, converse about and debate is politics. Maybe it would be better labeled as “poplitics”.
Why?
Are we talking about the new regulation Bush passed last week that would block some women from receiving abortion related assistance? No.
Is CNN’s “best political team on television” discussing a new amendment to the Constitution of the United States? No.
We’re not even talking about Secretary of State Rice’s recent visit to Tripoli. That falls under “world news” or “foreign relations”.
Instead they’re showing McCain’s head photoshopped onto Elvis’ body playing “Blue Suede Shoes”. Poplitics.
I see an elderly man jumping up and down at the RNC wearing a pin that reads: “Oklahoma War Vets for Alaska’s Hot Chick”. Poplitics.
We’re talking about the color of the tie, the brand of the pant suit, the number of balloons and the height of the Greek columns.
And that’s just the beginning. A foreigner could probably flip between ESPN’s PTI and Fox News coverage of the DNC and think it’s the same thing.
How should Obama react to Palin’s pitbullish sarcasm? Will Biden go over the top this time? How can the Clinton’s convince their base that they actually support Obama? Will people forget about McCain now that Palin is so popular? They’re all legitimate questions, it’s just not politics – it’s poplitics.
No wonder RealClearPolitics.com created RealClearSports.com quickly after they became popular. Brett Favre’s trade to the Jets is kind of like Joe Lieberman’s switch to the GOP.
Not only that, but the fashion critics have turned their focus from Cindy Crawford and Sarah-Michelle Geller to Cindy McCain, Sarah Palin and Michelle Obama.
Besides the amount of time I (and many others) have wasted viewing poplitics, I have no problem with it.
Let’s just call it what it is.
Why?
Are we talking about the new regulation Bush passed last week that would block some women from receiving abortion related assistance? No.
Is CNN’s “best political team on television” discussing a new amendment to the Constitution of the United States? No.
We’re not even talking about Secretary of State Rice’s recent visit to Tripoli. That falls under “world news” or “foreign relations”.
Instead they’re showing McCain’s head photoshopped onto Elvis’ body playing “Blue Suede Shoes”. Poplitics.
I see an elderly man jumping up and down at the RNC wearing a pin that reads: “Oklahoma War Vets for Alaska’s Hot Chick”. Poplitics.
We’re talking about the color of the tie, the brand of the pant suit, the number of balloons and the height of the Greek columns.
And that’s just the beginning. A foreigner could probably flip between ESPN’s PTI and Fox News coverage of the DNC and think it’s the same thing.
How should Obama react to Palin’s pitbullish sarcasm? Will Biden go over the top this time? How can the Clinton’s convince their base that they actually support Obama? Will people forget about McCain now that Palin is so popular? They’re all legitimate questions, it’s just not politics – it’s poplitics.
No wonder RealClearPolitics.com created RealClearSports.com quickly after they became popular. Brett Favre’s trade to the Jets is kind of like Joe Lieberman’s switch to the GOP.
Not only that, but the fashion critics have turned their focus from Cindy Crawford and Sarah-Michelle Geller to Cindy McCain, Sarah Palin and Michelle Obama.
Besides the amount of time I (and many others) have wasted viewing poplitics, I have no problem with it.
Let’s just call it what it is.
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