Taibbi gets it right about Lebron and ESPN

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/matt-taibbi/blogs/TaibbiData_May2010/179533/83512

 

Not a fan, but that column was great. Laughed the hardest at this line:

Poor Stuart Scott, he's been podded completely, if you chopped that dude's head off, nothing but little plastic balls containing digitized "Boo-yah" chips would fall out of his skull.

 

This, I thought, was the best part. It's also something that has stuck in my mind since last week - and is still scaring the shit out of me.

The last couple sentences are complete hyperbole, but to an extent, isn't this where were headed? Celeb-iticians, running for office? Quasi-reality television sporting events? The World Wild Leader dropping all highlights for innuendo on the holy trinity of whatever "brands" they deem fit to push?

 

Meh. It was a cheeky swipe at low-hanging fruit. Tiabbi can usually hold my attention longer than that. I lightly skimmed after the third graf and didn't find anything worth rereading.

 

That last paragraph is going to give me a nightmare , mostly because it becomes more plausible every day.

 

Last two sentences are hyperbole? Are you kidding? How many assistant pursers have to go to Congress, wrestlers and bodybuilder/actors to governor's offices and Saturday Night Live comedians to the Senate to convince you?

It's happening before your very eyes. Since Kennedy-Nixon in 1968, it has all been made for TV. Go rent Idiocracy. The funny parts aren't even funny any more.

 

Kennedy-Nixon was 1960, not 1968.

The point is taken, though.

That said, why should there necessarily be something wrong with celebrities, athletes, other pop culture figures, etc. running for and even winning office? Why was Gopher for Congress a bad thing? What made him less qualified than any of the people he beat during his political career?

Do celebrities/athletes have a leg up on their opponents? Sure they do. So do lawyers and other prominent individuals, like scions of political families. Unless you think every Kennedy who's ever held office was elected on merit rather than their name.

 

How about famous generals?

Like Eisenhower? Or Jackson? Or, um, George Washington?

We've always voted for people in the public eye.

And if you're going to single out show business, Reagan's the name you want to put forward.

 

Exactly.

 

How true. Besides, in what other country can Stuart Smalley win a Senate seat?

 

Are you saying he's not good enough? Or smart enough?

 

Interesting that ESPN cleaned up his grammar in the "official" transcript.

It was nice to read something from Taibbi (an amazing writer) that didn't piss me off.