Anyway, in the books Beeblebrox's responsibility as President of The Galaxy is to play "a role that involves no power whatsoever, and merely requires the incumbent to attract attention so no one wonders who's really in charge"(Wiki).
Not to suggest that President Bush was not in charge (*coughDickCheneycoughcough*) but that Beeblerox and Bush both share the similar trait of attracting the attention -good or bad- of the masses. And this attention is what the people want.
Edbauer seems to reaffirm my belief , in her analysis of Bush. She says: "Bush's rhetoric, including the jarring disruptions of thought and speech, creates an intensity that can move others."
It may be overly pessimistic to think that the people just want a colorful character on stage to entertain them. But then again look at the recent criticism of Obama as 'elitist' and "too cerebral". Wouldn't we as a people be happier or more entertained, if we had elected John McCain and his sideshow of a VP?
I think we'd quite likely be more entertained if we had gone with McCain and Palin - after all, don't most of us get out news from the Daily Show and Colbert Report? Think of the material they could get...
ReplyDeleteOn a more serious level, I think what people want in their minds and what they really want are in direct conflict with each other. Everybody says they want an intelligent President best able to protect America and guide it. But in practice, they vote for a Bush or a Reagan. Even Obama might have been in trouble if not for some mitigating circumstances (not to say that he won because of Race, but it certainly didn't hurt) and the extremes to which McCain and Palin took that appeal. Another way to look at it as well might be short term (us entertained) versus long term (prosperity) - sometimes they can make for a balance, but sometimes they skew, and that's when people get unhappy.