Reality Reality

This isn't here because it is so hilarious - it is here because of how close I am afraid it might be to the way so many people see the president and the presidency. TV may be varied, but we treat the people on TV similarly. It used to be that the American President would get on TV and TV as we knew it would be suspended as he spoke to us. A, "we now interrupt your drab, wretched lives for a word from on high," moment. That was good and bad, and, regardless, I think it is gone. Because of the long campaign, deep journalistic access, and 24-hour news, the president is sort of part of reality television. And, like it or hate it, that means the President shares part of the same space in our brains with Paris Hilton, the Hills, and Rock of Love.

The sad part is that the solution may make this whole thing look even more like reality TV. Starting with Reagan, presidents have worried about their television image. The speeches now have cutaways to reaction shots as it if was the national anthem at the All-Star game, and so on. Making the president stand apart from the rest of television may require an even more concerted effort to produce him that way. Kinda sad, but the result might be worth the price.