Thursday was one of the very first nights off of work that I’ve had in a very long time. How did I spend it, you ask?
Did I watch the Chicago Cubs game? No! I couldn’t even tell you what happened, despite an avowed affinity for the team.
Did I drink myself into a stupor while yelling at the television, as though I were watching a particularly tense baseball/basketball/football game? Why, yes, yes I did, while watching and tweeting the vice presidential debate. Because I am a nerd.
Which is why I was thrilled to hear the first new words in this episode out of Bob’s mouth: “This wasn’t a political debate – the great showdown between vice presidential candidates was an episode of ‘American Idol.’” Actually, “thrilled” may be too strong, especially after Bob stretched the “American Idol” metaphor into an analogy and then into a full-on Homeric metaphor.
Still, it’s always cool to remember exactly why I got angry.
Bob veers off to his own topic – which, let’s be fair, really is veering on to topic – this isn’t the coverage of the news, this is coverage of the coverage. Bob’s beat is not talking about the vice presidential debate, Bob’s beat is talking about what people said about it, or how it was presented. Which makes listening to this story feel a bit like listening to Sarah Palin’s answers. Like Bob is answering a question, but not the question asked, don’t ya know, Joe six-pack.
Anyway, Bob veers off to his own topic – how cable news made the debate all gimmicky with things like real-time polling on the subject (call-in polls actually, so if MSNBC and Fox News were both doing this, they would have totally different results).
All of which makes me glad that we just watched the PBS coverage. God bless television that doesn’t have enough money for gimmicks or bias (beyond Gwen Ifill, anyway).
I haven’t left myself a lot of space or time to talk about the rest of what I’d like to cover in this week’s episode, so, at the risk of turning my recap week into Bobwatch starring David Hasselhoff, I want to bring forth this bit of not exactly brilliance, not exactly comedic gold – in fact, I’m not sure it’s a bit of any noun.
Which confuses and concerns me.
Bob’s talking about a service offered by the Media Bloggers Association – insurance against copyright infringement, invasion of privacy or defamation lawsuits.
Which confuses and concerns me.
Bob, dude, seriously, if you want to tell us something, there’s no need to be passive-agressive about it. I think we’ve made it abundantly clear on several occassions that we mean no ill. We don’t want to spread mean rumors, we don’t want to dig through your trash or steal your work.
That said, I don’t think we want to exactly scatter the earth before you with rose and tulip petals either, but we’d buy you a beer. Maybe give you a hug.
And we’ll watch this in your honor, because we know you and Brooke would have covered it if it had come out before your deadline:
Today’s recap was brought to you by Joe Six-Pack and edited by Hockey Mom, who, like any good American, knows how to kill and field dress a moose; thinks seeing another country is foreign relations, and thinks the government should stay out of your business unless it’s watching you to protect you.
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