Becoming an Object of Ridicule, Tonight's Debate.

To begin is a story I heard on the radio, an NPR story about Paul Newman. A reporter related how he got a call in his office from Paul Newman and he thought it was a prank call. It really was from Mr. Newman, he had a couple of ideas for stories that he wanted to talk about, and invited him over to his house. While he was there, the reporter went into the bathroom and found a famous actor's face printed on each piece of toilet paper, with the phrase "Greetings From Robert Redford!" printed below...

After watching the Saturday Night Live sketch of the VP debate, and Tina Fey's portrayal of Sarah Palin, I got to wondering how it must feel to become an object of satire. Its part of the price one pays for becoming a public persona, you loose a large amount of personal privacy and freedom, and on a slow news day people can make stuff up about you to try and garner extra attention. In the heat of a political battle it can get ugly when your opponent begins to smear your character, and you have to face them as if nothing hurtful has happened. Because it's all done on the public stage and each excruciating moment is reported by the newspapers, I can see where one would lash out at the messenger and become contemptible of the Mainstream Media. And if you yourself are the source of embarrassment, then lashing out is more acceptable than pointing back at yourself and may explain why most public figures tend to be shallow figureheads lacking in any self-introspection.

Tonight's debate is in the town hall format, and supposedly the questions are coming from the audience and submitted via the Internet. Of course there will be ringers from both parties who will be throwing softballs for their candidates to hit. It could be a good format and will test Barack Obama when John McCain will constantly attack him in person, now that the gloves are off. Though I wonder if John will be wearing Naughty Monkey heels like his running mate does.

So tonight's drinking game will be for the number of times an economic question is ignored and instead unleashes a personal attack on the other guy. My only problem is that I will be playing by myself and I don't want to appear sloshed in front of grandchildren. So, I may cheat and use non-alcoholic substances, measure the volume amount instead. Life is no fun when you try to be responsible...