Blather, blather, blather, American dream, blather, blather, hard working American families, blather, blather, future, blather, blather, anecdote about how the candidate comes from a hardworking American family, blather, blather, national service, blather, American dream, blather, blather, blather, community, blather, God, blather, education, blather blather blather blather environment, blather, God again, blather blather blather blather blather blather sea to shining sea, the end. God Bless America!
I doubt anyone would notice, even if the candidates actually said the word "blather" ninety times. Not for nothing did PJ O'Rourke dub these things "an oleo high-colonic". The most interesting commentary I've heard so far has come via Twitter, and involves the relative quality of the hors d'oeuvres at the various media cocktail parties.
Perhaps the most annoying feature is that you can't escape it--even if you don't watch the Potemkin Pep-Rallies themselves, you can't turn on the morning news without seeing some minor democratic functionary ponderously repeating whatever canned line they've developed for their 11:30 am 10 minute convention speech, which will be delivered to a rapt audience of television grips and their mother. This morning it was someone I've never heard of rambling about Enron Energy Economics or some similarly sonorous nonsense syllables, which were repeated at least twenty times during a half-hour commentator spot. Next week it will undoubtedly be the Assistant Comptroller of Phoenix complaining about Obama Peddling Ponzi Prosperity.
Sadly, I can't avoid watching them; it's my job. But the rest of you--save yourselves! Don't worry about me--I've got a .45 and a bottle of whiskey right here by my side for when it gets to be too much. Meanwhile, my beloved Dr. Boli has a few suggestions for alternaprogramming:
Dumont Network: Takedown Notice (crime drama). A fast-paced new drama focusing on the heroic self-appointed enforcers of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Tonight: In the pilot episode, Dirk and Moira go after a gang of church mothers whose "entertainment" for their youth group consists of commercial DVDs not licensed for public exhibition.Northern Broadcasting System: Stones of the City (crime drama). This latest entry in the vampire-building-inspector genre follows the adventures of Sam Ionescu, inspector for the city of Washington (Penna.). Tonight: New tenants complain that the walls of their 18th-century farmhouse are oozing blood. Has Sam found his dream house?
Metromedia: Al 'n' Me (comedy). The wacky adventures of best buddies Alexander and Hephaestion as they look for new worlds to conquer. Tonight: Stuck in the two-bit burgh of Gordium, Al and Hephaestion really need an ox-cart to impress the chicks - but the only one available is all tied up with an impossible knot.
Golf Network: The Golf Show (golf). Tonight: Badminton.
If they could replace the delegates with thousands of Chinese acrobats in identical costumes, it could rise to the level of pointless boringness on display during the opening/closing ceremonies.
Then again, you voted for Bush.
How can they show badminton on something named The Golf Show? That's outrageous!
I will intentionally avoid all things DNC except for Obama's speech at the end. I have a similar strategy for the RNC.
Studies have shown that people tend to ignore the commercials unless they contain scantily clad models or puppies. Maybe if they had bikini wearing models petting puppies next to the lectern and the anchor's desks there would be greater viewership of this commercial.
I'm not sure who this Convention is intended to appeal to. Certainly not core Democrats -- they're voting for Obama even if it's revealed that he's actually a puppet with Vladimir Putin's hand shoved up his butt. And not Republicans, who couldn't stomache the mindnumbing blather.
And it's not Independents. They aren't watching. There is simply no undecided voter on Earth who says, "Hmmm, I think I'll flip over to the overscripted, tightly choreographed dance of the self-important."
So there's only one target left: the media. And you'd think even they have more self-respect than to eat this stuff up with a spoon. But there they are...
Well, the CNBC morning show had a couple of campaign economists arguing policy. The talking heads on that program actually tried to get them to say something real.
KillaMagilla writes: "And not Republicans, who couldn't stomache the mindnumbing blather."
Plus they're too busy talking about how great the economy is and how awesome the big victories in Iraq and Afghanistan are. Oh, and having intimate conversations with Jeezus.
Xmas: The complaint was about the tightly scripted speeches of the convention itself, not interviews on a news show. I completely concur with the total inanity of the speeches given at these things, Republican, Democrat or Independent. They are tightly scripted with a menu of key elements to hit to "resonate" with the unwashed masses so that those unwashed will somehow believe that the speaker, who most likely would never shop at a Wal-Mart if their life depended on it, is really just a natural, normal person just like them!
What amazes me is how many people actually do listen and buy it. I tend to judge people by the body of evidence of their past WORKS, not by the words they spew on cue at a scripted event like this.
Megan,
In the not too distant past certainly within (my) living memory there was no way for like-minded people to have 'live' discussions among themselves, if their group consisted of more than two individuals, other than physically gathering at the same location. Telecommunications technology directed itself to resolve the problem of enabling mass two-way communications in spite of spatial separation. it succeeded and then, like all good technologies, it surpassed its original intent with an unintended set of consequences that have made gatherings such as 'National Party conventions" totally irrelevant. We can have a live convention of like minded people today, and we often do, on the Internet. We no longer need the dreary political conventions; they are in fact uber-boring endless blather all predictable, all superficial, and we can tune it out or selectively watch and listen to what we think will be fresh, interesting, important, or entertaining. The fools who organize and 'script' these conventions are just playing with themselves. Someime in the near future the conventions will be online; the votes will be electronic; and the acceptance speeches will be delivered from a candidate's home or office. Please let it be soon.
I am old enough to remember being lectured by the serious media types about how I should watch the conventions because it was democracy in action, and gosh wow televised! Of course this was already long past the point where actual decisions were made at the conventions, much less the parts that had television cameras.
Then we moved into the phase where the networks pretty much admitted that this was pointless political theater, so they cut back on coverage to just a few key speeches.
Then came cable news networks, returning to the days of extensive coverage, but without even the pretense that any of it really matters.
Thank God for baseball.
It doesn't matter whether or not anyone watches.
The networks will collect their money from advertisers just the same, and that's all the networks care about.
I thought these things were for the participants anyway. The rest of us have Netflix.
According to Nielsen, none of you are watching the conventions?
What other convention is going on that I could be watching......or are they already polling for the GOP's? Hey, why wait for the actual viewers when you can go ahead and predict everyone's behavior.....or put it another way.....let's not let the facts get in the way of a good story.
I was hoping to see Michelle Obama and so I turned the TV and found out she was scheduled for "sometime" in the 10:00 hour, not 10:00 sharp like the program guide said.
The CNN folks obviously felt the speeches were too boring even for us, so they replaced what was going on on the floor with their own perspectives.
They had James Carvelle on. I may not love the guy, being a Democratic strategist and alll, but he was correct in saying that they have wasted their time so far, with speeches so dull that not even CNN actually wants to carry them. (I admittedly missed Kennedy's speech, which was apparently genuinely moving).
They force fed us an insipidly sweet video about Michelle growing up and her whirlwind romance with Barack and so on, and then it was her brother's turn, and then her own. I felt like I was going to get a diabetic sugar attack before it ended. Fortunately, it did.
At 10:32.
After 10 minutes of blather about how great a family and kids she had and how wonderful a President Barack would be, it was time to leave.
If it costs about a million dollars to get a 30 second ad on prime time, I had listened to $20 million worth of free advertising and none of it made me particularly interested in Barack.
I suppose if the idea was to show that Barack and Michelle were not evil aliens from the planet Amphibious 9, it might have worked. Insofar as I can tell, they have shown that they are flesh and blood human beings.
I guess that lays down the "foundation" for actually seeing them do something in the next episode.
Jack Lifton has a fantasy: "Someime in the near future the conventions will be online; the votes will be electronic; and the acceptance speeches will be delivered from a candidate's home or office."
Uh huh. And the Super Bowl will be played in an empty stadium.
Sheesh.
I think the network coverage has been simply ridiculous; hardly any of it has seemed to match what I'm seeing there myself. You can see what we're doing at Pajamas Media, (he said, traffic-whoring unabashedly.)
By the way, I think Steve Green of Vodkapundit has a crush on you.
Today's conventions, DNC or RNC are nothing short of the new reality show "American Political Idol". In the future they should be hosted by Rush and Olberman.
Once upon a time the conventions were worth watching when the candidate was in fact nominated at their respective conventions. That was exciting and worth while.
As for me, I'll watch re-runs of the Olympic Opening Ceremony... Knee-pads and waders not required..
this: "Blather, blather, blather, American dream, blather, blather, hard working American families, blather, blather, future, blather, blather, anecdote about how the candidate comes from a hardworking American family, blather, blather, national service, blather, American dream, blather, blather, blather, community, blather, God, blather, education, blather blather blather blather environment, blather, God again, blather blather blather blather blather blather sea to shining sea, the end. God Bless America!"
is a truly apt recap of MO's "remarks".
it surprised, even, me, for the 4 minutes I watched..
Change? Riight...
btw, Get Well Soon MM
this: "Blather, blather, blather, American dream, blather, blather, hard working American families, blather, blather, future, blather, blather, anecdote about how the candidate comes from a hardworking American family, blather, blather, national service, blather, American dream, blather, blather, blather, community, blather, God, blather, education, blather blather blather blather environment, blather, God again, blather blather blather blather blather blather sea to shining sea, the end. God Bless America!"
is a truly apt recap of MO's "remarks".
it surprised, even, me, for the 4 minutes I watched..
Change? Riight...
btw, Get Well Soon MM
sorry, comment submission issues
I watched the show last night, flipping between CSPAN, the broadcast networks, and the cable networks. Frankly, CSPAN was best, because they showed the whole thing. The networks and cable insisted on having talking heads instead of what was on stage. I guess they have to justify themselves.
"According to Nielsen, none of you are watching the conventions."
Well, let's face it, it's not exactly women's beach volleyball, now is it?
Having the Olympics as the lead-in probably wasn't the best scheduling move in the world.
And even Democratic operative James Carville says this is a convention desperately in search of a theme. I'd say beach volleball is as good as any.
May-Treanor/Walsh in 2012!
"Democratic operative James Carville says this is a convention desperately in search of a theme."
Who gives a damn what Carville says? He should spend more time at home beating his wife.
I liked your idea of a political speech. Perhaps you should hire out as a speech writer. You do a lot better job than the ones both candidates now have and besides, I like the word blather when it comes to politics. It accurately reflects what the politicians are saying.
Surely, the Atlantic has the resources to do something about this if they wanted to. They could send JaneGalt to Denver with the instructions to ask top officials real questions on video.
For instance, she could try to find out exactly how BHO is lying about healthcare. All she needs to do is hire a local cameraman, find a politician, advisor, or official, and read a question about that off a card and The Atlantic could help change how things operate.
Of course, they won't do that since all they want to do is whine while supporting the system they whine about.
Think of the Democratic Convention of 1968. That was exciting. Now think of this year's convention as the 11th sequel.
Megan,
Thank you, thank you a thousand times, for watching this stuff so we don't have to! All praise to Megan! We're not worthy!
The modern major party conventions are like infomercials with the added disadvantage that no matter what I'm going to end up having to pay for one of the products they're pushing.
I consider myself to be interested in politics and reasonably familiar with the issues of the day, yet I would sooner gnaw my own eyeballs out of their sockets before I watched either convention...
God forbid a right-wingers like Megan listen to the powerful speech of an ACTUAL REPUBLICAN: ""As a Republican, I stand before you with deep respect for the history and traditions of my political party. But it is clear to all Americans that something is out of kilter in our great republic.... Seldom has the case for an inspiring new political ethic been more compelling. And seldom has an emerging leader so matched the needs of the moment.... I stand before you proud of my party's contributions to American history but, as a citizen, proud as well of the good judgment of good people in this good party, in nominating a transcending candidate, an individual whom I am convinced will recapture the American dream and be a truly great president: the senator from Abraham Lincoln's state -- Barack Obama.... This is not a time for politics as usual.... Obama will recapture the American dream and be a truly great president.""
I watched over four hours of the convention on PBS through rabbit ears. Nielsen doesn't know me and I'm informed enough to know that Nielson doesn't know much except rough generalities.
It's probably lost on Megan and her right-wing friends, but it's ironic that Megan contradicts herself: "none of you are watching the conventions" ... "Perhaps the most annoying feature is that you can't escape it."
Apparently Megan McArdle's usefulness to The Atlantic is to attract right-wing trolls, but it sure doesn't do much for the publications credibility.
There were/are 60 speakers lined up for today's DNC blabfest - anything new being said?
Why do I want to watch Caroline Kennedy; Chelsea Clinton; (Michelle Obama?) or any other 2nd/3 degrees of separation/2nd generation politician/celeb bask in the glow of 10,000 idiots?
The conventions deserve the fact that there are few viewers. It is amazing that even cable broadcasts most of it
Political conventions are an anachronism. Before the campaign reforms of the 1970s and 1980s political activists actually did get together in smoke-filled rooms at the conventions to pick their nominees and there were elements of drama to them. Today the nominees are known well before the last primary is held and there's nothing more remarkable that the volume of hot air rising and # of balloons falling at the conventions. Both Republicans and Democrats could phone it in for all the difference these make.
What's really disgusting is that thanks to campaign finance "reform" the taxpayers pick up half the tab for these monstrosities. If it weren't for that probably the parties would have cancelled them long since. Or at least cut way back on the hoopla.
According to Nielsen, none of you are watching the conventions. An even lower none than in 2004,
Did you look at the numbers, or just commentary?
From a comment on Yglesias's new site:
** 2004 **
NBC 4.7 M
ABC 4.4 M
CBS 4.7 M
FoxNews 2.1 M
CNN 1.6 M
MSNBC 1.3 M
Total 18.8 M
** 2008 **
NBC 4.85 M
ABC 3.78 M
CBS 3.52 M
FoxNews 2.72 M
CNN 4.24 M
MSNBC 2.10 M
Total 21.21 M
I haven't verified these, but if accurate viewership is up since 2004 not down.
I think shots of the gymnasts in Beijing spliced with a weeping Joe Biden as he combs his hair plugs would symbolize the relevance of anything going on in Denver.
If the Twin Cities has Lieberman or Condi Rice as the VP candidate, I might sneak a peek at their acceptance speech, but if it's Mitt, no way!
I do like to watch Karl Rove routinely outwit the Dumb-o Party on air at Hannity & Combs [again the hair reference].
BTW, Megan, I dated a sweet Irish girl named McArdle at the U. of Michigan---any relation?
Media News:
I watched over four hours of the convention on PBS through rabbit ears.
Didn't the rabbit object?
Leach hasn't been a Republican in 20 years. Before he lost his seat in 2006 he voted with the Democrats something like 90% of the time. He was invited to offset some of the sting of having Liebermann open the GOP convention next week.
Kolohe writes: "I haven't verified these, but if accurate viewership is up since 2004 not down."
Why let facts get in the way of a good rant, I guess...
Check out Media News site for numerous crimes against both style and substance. The style reminds one of the inside of that fellow Dahmer's refrigerator and the substance reeks of John Edwards' ethical probity.
daveinboca writes: "Check out Media News site for numerous crimes against both style and substance. The style reminds one of the inside of that fellow Dahmer's refrigerator and the substance reeks of John Edwards' ethical probity."
Keep in mind that daveinboca is a Steve Sailer and Jerome Corsi fan and if you check out his blog you'll wonder what he keeps in his own refrigerator.
Though I do have to admit that a 400 pound white supremacist is a very amusing sight. Do they even make white robes in a 9X?
If we are talking about the Democratic convention then you didn't include enough...blather...change we can believe in.....blather.....failed Bush policies....blather....change.....ect......
I would watch a convention if they moved aside the curtain and gave a show exposing their essential principles. Such as human sacrifice.
But as it is, I neither watch political conventions or Hollywood award shows, for pretty much the same reason.
It seems that the US party Conventions have turned into reassurance shows. In these, everything that happens is totally predictable; and that is what the target audience want. Commercial sponsers of such shows are looking to confirm existing customers in their established buying patterns. I think it follows that the objective of the present Conventions is simply to confirm and reinforce existing party identifications. Trying to attract converts and influence independents is for other times and places.
By definition, Atlantic readers and Megan addicts will be bored. To a lesser degree, so will all the mass of Americans who do not identfy strongly as elephants or mules. For Megan, these are shows to watch while reading an interesting book. Just record in case you want to look back at anything. All that is to write about is:
- What does not go according to the script, and
- Why the script includes the themes it does, and why it omits others.
On that basis, I found that I could watch the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony (= Chinese Communist Party major proclamation) with attention; even though everything appeared to go exactly as scripted.
I was going to post the Nielson numbers, but somebody beat me to it. My question for Megan is, How could you be 180 degrees wrong on this when all you had to do was consult the actual numbers? Were you simply relying on some right-wing meme?
Jose Padilla greenwalds Megan: "How could you be 180 degrees wrong on this when all you had to do was consult the actual numbers? Were you simply relying on some right-wing meme?"
Ross probably passed her the memo. He's become so unhinged lately that he's allergic to reality.
Jose Padilla is Megan McArdle? Or is Jose Padilla someone else on this thread? ML+J perhaps?
Is there a different meaning to 'greenwald' out there other than sockpuppet?
"I've got a .45 and a bottle of whiskey right here by my side for when it gets to be too much"
If you have alcohol, then make a drinking game out of it. Take a shot every time someone says "more of the same" or whatever. Put the gun away first, and don't turn it into a vlog post unless you want Althouse accusing you of plagarism.