Thursday, February 26, 2009

The life cycle of a political meme

Politics is perception, and if things don't work out, the amount of time it'll take you to go from being a hired gun to a cocktail party joke can be clocked with an egg timer.

Leo Solomon, The American President (1995)

Tuesday, February 24, 2009: Following President Obama's address to Congress, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal gives the Republican response.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009: By lunchtime, commentators across the internet have independently arrived at the conclusion that Jindal's performance does nothing so much as remind viewers of Kenneth Parcell, the NBC page on "30 Rock."

Thursday, February 26, 2009: A video clip in which the actor who plays Kenneth Parcell is invited by host Jimmy Fallon to give a response to Jindal's response to Obama circulates on the internet. The resemblance between the perky but clueless dweeb and the future hope of the GOP does not work to the latter's benefit:



At this point Jindal can only pray for a miracle, such as that, by Friday, Alabama Sen. Dick Shelby will have flubbed his way back into the spotlight to draw the media attention back onto himself again. And that--or something equally embarrassing to the Grand Old Party--certainly seems possible.

There's never an egg timer around when you need one

Leo Solomon, The American President (1995)

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