Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Wit and erudition
OK, so I'm back, and I'm going to go out of my way to keep this thing up to date - not because I think anyone will read it, but because I'm making my humor class students start a blog as a way of being accountable to regular deadlines, and it would be hypocritical of me not to join in the fun. So here are some thoughts for them, and for me.
- What would happen if the US Congress had "conversations with the President" the way the British Parliament has conversations with the Prime Minister? For those unfamiliar with the convention, each week, there is a special parliamentary session in which members of Parliament pepper the Prime Minister Tony Blair with questions (which he has been provided in advance- here's a link to a video of the most recent session - click on "Prime Minister questions" video in right column). Blair is obliged to respond to each one, despite the jeering.
The focus is not on the content of the questions and Blair's responses- which are predictably "spinny" - but on the ability of each side to slide in as much thinly veiled insult, witty commentary and, of course, rhetoric, as possible into their minutes at the podium. It is political theatre at its grandest, and it makes me long for a leader as able to think on his feet as Mr. Blair. Hell, he even knows how to pronounce the word "nuclear."
I realize that any attempt to recreate this phenomenon in the US Congress would be an abysmal failure. First of all, the president would be required to attend, which doesn't really fit in with his calendar right now. He's got another invasion to plan, tax cuts to expand, social programs to whack and civil liberties to violate. The guy just doesn't have time to sit around verbally sparring with the elected representatives of the US People. Plus, sending Bush to verbally spar with anyone would be like sending a man armed with a pen knife into a gun fight.
The second reason it wouldn't work is that our elected representatives aren't exactly the sharpest tools in the shed, either. Elected largely because of their outstanding heads of natural hair, trim yet muscular figures, bank accounts, and ability to slip expensive pork barrel projects into the federal budget unnoticed, our reps and senators aren't really a breed of people who have placed much importance on the ability to think quickly, clearly and logically. They've all learned through experience that those talents are of little use in Washington DC. And even if they wanted to, true wit and erudition in all its forms vacated the Capitol Building sometime during the second Roosevelt administration and has not returned, even though it left its toothbrush in the Senate VIP bathroom. Erudition, which involves intelligent, coherent and engaging commentary, was abandoned for empassioned 10 second sound bites shortly after the invention of television. It is also nearly impossible to be erudite while speaking out of both sides of one's mouth.
So, it seems that the "conversations," like many other outstanding British entertainment exports such as "The Weakest Link" "The Office" and "Coupling," simply wouldn't translate well at all from the British version. You will find me tuned to BBC each Tuesday, gazing whistfully at a form of democratic discourse my nation will likely never see.
- What would happen if the US Congress had "conversations with the President" the way the British Parliament has conversations with the Prime Minister? For those unfamiliar with the convention, each week, there is a special parliamentary session in which members of Parliament pepper the Prime Minister Tony Blair with questions (which he has been provided in advance- here's a link to a video of the most recent session - click on "Prime Minister questions" video in right column). Blair is obliged to respond to each one, despite the jeering.
The focus is not on the content of the questions and Blair's responses- which are predictably "spinny" - but on the ability of each side to slide in as much thinly veiled insult, witty commentary and, of course, rhetoric, as possible into their minutes at the podium. It is political theatre at its grandest, and it makes me long for a leader as able to think on his feet as Mr. Blair. Hell, he even knows how to pronounce the word "nuclear."
I realize that any attempt to recreate this phenomenon in the US Congress would be an abysmal failure. First of all, the president would be required to attend, which doesn't really fit in with his calendar right now. He's got another invasion to plan, tax cuts to expand, social programs to whack and civil liberties to violate. The guy just doesn't have time to sit around verbally sparring with the elected representatives of the US People. Plus, sending Bush to verbally spar with anyone would be like sending a man armed with a pen knife into a gun fight.
The second reason it wouldn't work is that our elected representatives aren't exactly the sharpest tools in the shed, either. Elected largely because of their outstanding heads of natural hair, trim yet muscular figures, bank accounts, and ability to slip expensive pork barrel projects into the federal budget unnoticed, our reps and senators aren't really a breed of people who have placed much importance on the ability to think quickly, clearly and logically. They've all learned through experience that those talents are of little use in Washington DC. And even if they wanted to, true wit and erudition in all its forms vacated the Capitol Building sometime during the second Roosevelt administration and has not returned, even though it left its toothbrush in the Senate VIP bathroom. Erudition, which involves intelligent, coherent and engaging commentary, was abandoned for empassioned 10 second sound bites shortly after the invention of television. It is also nearly impossible to be erudite while speaking out of both sides of one's mouth.
So, it seems that the "conversations," like many other outstanding British entertainment exports such as "The Weakest Link" "The Office" and "Coupling," simply wouldn't translate well at all from the British version. You will find me tuned to BBC each Tuesday, gazing whistfully at a form of democratic discourse my nation will likely never see.
