Goodbye Olympics, hello Democratic National Convention.
Did anyone catch the hilariously awful handoff to London at the closing ceremonies of the Olympics on Sunday night? Double-decker bus, umbrellas, multicolored raincoats, Jimmy Page, David Beckham — it was like watching a terrible Broadway musical. It made Elton John on a trampoline seem like a good idea. The Chinese put the British to shame — although, as the Washington Post’s Anne Applebaum points out, of course authoritarian societies do spectacle really well.
So that’s that for the Olympics.
Did anyone catch the convention coverage last night? And by convention coverage, I mean did anyone catch the TV news anchors interviewing pundits and politicians while ignoring the speakers onstage, except for Ted Kennedy and Michelle Obama?
[A]s CNN analysts were wrapping up the night, several talked about the absence of “red meat” attacks on the Republicans. But Democratic activist Hillary Rosen noted that Pelosi was doing some of that — only CNN wasn’t really listening. …
Several things may explain it. The networks paid to send much of their political talent to Denver, and want to show them off. They fear political speeches may turn off an audience that has, essentially, tuned in for political speeches. And they don’t want to be sucked into an infomercial.
Granted, it is all a giant infomercial. But if people don’t want to watch, they’re not going to watch, and Katie Couric interviewing Nancy Pelosi isn’t going to pull anyone away from America’s Next Top Model or whatever is on TV in the summer.
Now, if they showed Elton John on a trampoline — that might do it.
