Miscommunication in the modern age
Quote du jour: "If he said the sky was blue and she said the sky was purple, then the sky was purple."
The above quote was stolen from an article about how ex-President Clinton now has to clear everything he does with his wife, who is gearing up for a run at the presidency in ’08. So what’s my angle here? Am I going to rant about whether or not the US is ready for a female prez? Am I going to go off on roles of husband and wife? Am I going to wonder out loud about why the hell the Clintons are still married after he publicly humiliated her (can you say “political sham marriage”, kids)? Alas, no. I’m going to talk about something much more boring. But you might learn something, so read on.
The quote was uttered by one of Hillary’s “handlers” – indicating that she has a small contingent of handlers responsible for making sure that she stays in line. Apparently, there are also “handlers” watching poor Bill on her behalf. This is the norm these days and sadly, I have a feeling that Brittany Spears has more “handlers” than both Bill and Hill combined. By the way, I don’t like the term “handlers”. It sounds like something someone on a ranch might do:
Jack: “Wha’d you do last fall, Ennis?”
Ennis: “Well, pardn’r, I worked for ol’ Jed’s ranch.”
Jack: “Really, Ennis? Wha’d you do at ol’ Jed’s ranch?”
Ennis: “I was a handler.”
Jack: “I reckon that musta been a good time, Ennis. D’you handle for Hillary, or Brittany?”
Ennis: “Neither. I handled for ol’Bessy, until she quit me. Now she’s in a better place.”
Jack: “You mean she…”
Ennis: “Uh-huh. She’s at ol’ man Jared’s farm, he’s got a mechanical milking machine and a whole team of handlers!”
--Cue Hee-Haw banjo music--
Now, I realize that this is just a silly quote meant to show that Hill is the boss, and what she says goes, but it is indicative of a much larger problem that people in the public eye have to face: the sky is not purple. Bill is right. And if Bill is right, why is everyone being told that the sky is indeed purple.
Maybe recent political events in Canada have made me unnecessarily nostalgic for a time when I was nowhere near existing, but I remember when politicians would speak their mind, and people would vote for the person whose mind most resembled theirs. Remember FDR’s fireside chats that helped people get through the depression and the start of WWII? Or Kennedy’s “ask not what your country can do for you…” address? Or even the drunken antics of Sir Johnny A. Mack? Neither do I and that is a problem.
By way of jogging the collective memory of my 2.5 readers, I suggest visiting the cbc.ca archives. Start with this one, but beware, it is six minutes long and it contains more information than two dozen thirty second sound clips.
What I love about it isn’t the content or the politics. I don’t know enough about the man (CBC miniseries aside) to say what a great PM he was, but imagine for one second having three very calm journalists walk up to Mr. Harper – or any recent PM for that matter - without any “handlers” nearby, and have a serious, challenging discussion about something of vital importance to the country, on Rideau Street in broad daylight, and then having that whole six minute exchange broadcast to the country thereby allowing us, as citizens, to make up our minds.
It’s about as hard to imagine as a purple sky.
D.
The above quote was stolen from an article about how ex-President Clinton now has to clear everything he does with his wife, who is gearing up for a run at the presidency in ’08. So what’s my angle here? Am I going to rant about whether or not the US is ready for a female prez? Am I going to go off on roles of husband and wife? Am I going to wonder out loud about why the hell the Clintons are still married after he publicly humiliated her (can you say “political sham marriage”, kids)? Alas, no. I’m going to talk about something much more boring. But you might learn something, so read on.
The quote was uttered by one of Hillary’s “handlers” – indicating that she has a small contingent of handlers responsible for making sure that she stays in line. Apparently, there are also “handlers” watching poor Bill on her behalf. This is the norm these days and sadly, I have a feeling that Brittany Spears has more “handlers” than both Bill and Hill combined. By the way, I don’t like the term “handlers”. It sounds like something someone on a ranch might do:
Jack: “Wha’d you do last fall, Ennis?”
Ennis: “Well, pardn’r, I worked for ol’ Jed’s ranch.”
Jack: “Really, Ennis? Wha’d you do at ol’ Jed’s ranch?”
Ennis: “I was a handler.”
Jack: “I reckon that musta been a good time, Ennis. D’you handle for Hillary, or Brittany?”
Ennis: “Neither. I handled for ol’Bessy, until she quit me. Now she’s in a better place.”
Jack: “You mean she…”
Ennis: “Uh-huh. She’s at ol’ man Jared’s farm, he’s got a mechanical milking machine and a whole team of handlers!”
--Cue Hee-Haw banjo music--
Now, I realize that this is just a silly quote meant to show that Hill is the boss, and what she says goes, but it is indicative of a much larger problem that people in the public eye have to face: the sky is not purple. Bill is right. And if Bill is right, why is everyone being told that the sky is indeed purple.
Maybe recent political events in Canada have made me unnecessarily nostalgic for a time when I was nowhere near existing, but I remember when politicians would speak their mind, and people would vote for the person whose mind most resembled theirs. Remember FDR’s fireside chats that helped people get through the depression and the start of WWII? Or Kennedy’s “ask not what your country can do for you…” address? Or even the drunken antics of Sir Johnny A. Mack? Neither do I and that is a problem.
By way of jogging the collective memory of my 2.5 readers, I suggest visiting the cbc.ca archives. Start with this one, but beware, it is six minutes long and it contains more information than two dozen thirty second sound clips.
What I love about it isn’t the content or the politics. I don’t know enough about the man (CBC miniseries aside) to say what a great PM he was, but imagine for one second having three very calm journalists walk up to Mr. Harper – or any recent PM for that matter - without any “handlers” nearby, and have a serious, challenging discussion about something of vital importance to the country, on Rideau Street in broad daylight, and then having that whole six minute exchange broadcast to the country thereby allowing us, as citizens, to make up our minds.
It’s about as hard to imagine as a purple sky.
D.
