Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Politics as Celebrity Jeopardy

I'll Take Anal Bum Cover for 400, Alex

Slacktivist argues, in all seriousness, that Democrats are playing Jeopardy, while Republicans play Family Feud:
Facts do not matter in Family Feud. That game show isn't about getting the right answer, but about guessing the most popular response. Where Jeopardy's questions and answers come from an almanac or an encyclopedia, Family Feud's responses come from surveys and polls. The questions on Family Feud don't require knowledge or a grasp of information, but rather the ability to guess what answers were most popular with those "hundred people surveyed."

Obama was eager to show that he really does have the right answers -- cost containment, near-universal coverage, lower premiums, better quality care, deficit reduction. All of that is well covered in the plan he's pushing and any attempt to challenge him on the facts would be doomed.

So the GOP has decided to play a different game -- to switch from Jeopardy to Family Feud. That way it's not about the facts, or about what works, or about the actual effect of actual policies on actual people. In the subjective guessing-game of Family Feud, none of that matters. Family Feud is all about perceptions -- about what those hundred people surveyed think or guess or dimly remember having heard something about.

Good analogy, but I think both parties are playing Jeopardy. It's just that Democrats play like Alex Trebek and Republicans play like Sean Connery.



Insulting the host, trashing the rules and providing irrelevant offensive answers? Not accomplishing anything and refusing to play the game? How is this any different?



That's what your mother said last night, Obama! I'll take Jap Anus Relations for 200.

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