Like the Romans said: Bread and circus for the masses. Â But where’s the bread?
Every once in a while you read a book that changes your life.
That book, for me, was Amusing Ourselves To Death by Neil Postman.
Published in 1985, Postman, a Professor at NYU, predicted that as television came to dominate the landscape, every other activity would be bent to television’s insatiable need to hold an audience by any means necessary – that is, entertainment.
Postman predicted that important issues of public discourse, Â even The Presidency, would be swept into the maw of a need to endlessly amuse and entertain.
How right he was.
For Postman, it was things like presidential debates. Â The classic Lincoln/Douglass debates for the Illinois Senate seat went on for 7 hours at a time – plenty of time for each candidate to lay out his position, as well as endure extensive cross-questioning from the opponent. Â Today’s Presidental ‘debates’ are.. well, nothing short of entertainment – in search of a snappy, funny answer that will turn the tide – or waiting for the gaffe that will sink a campaign.
That seemed bad enough, but as with much of what appears on television, you think you have reached the bottom of the barrel, but it turns out there’s a lot further to go.
I have always thought that Barack Obama was the first Reality TV Show President.
Seriously.
When he was first elected, no one knew a thing about him.  He was the Susan Boyle of American politics.  The dream of every reality show producer – the unknown who goes on to become the winner.  It’s a great story line, and it was exactly what American viewers voters bought into.
Now, we’ve gone one step further.
VP-TV.
That is, Vice President TV.
There’s a movement, promoted by the White House, no less, to create a reality show about the life of Vice President Joe Biden.
In theory, cameras would follow around the Vice President and record all his ‘wacky antics’ for the viewing audience.
What a laff riot!
And what a great way to make the Presidency less ‘distant’. Â Because how can you get elected if you are ‘distant’?
This is going to happen.
It is inevitable.
And surprising it hasn’t happened before.
The FDR Show!  Join us each week as Franklin Delano Roosevelt (Frankie to his friends) cavorts in the hot tub at Hot Springs Georgia with his bevy of beauties, including the sexy Lucy Mercer.  And then, it’s off to meet up with the endlessly entertaining  Uncle Joe Stalin as the two ‘wild and crazy guys’ divide up the post war world!
Vladimir Putin. Â Do you have my email address?
Hey, there’s a reason Lincoln got 11 Academy Award nominations.
Copyright Michael Rosenblum 2013
