Shock news from Washington DC confirms the extraordinary power of the blogosphere. Scarcely had the Battle of Tim-Tim ensued on the net than the US House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee exploded in an uncannily accurate – and similarly acrimonious – reprise of that engagement. Amidst cries of ‘wimp,’ ‘fruitcake’ and the ever-popular ‘sad day for democracy’, Left and Right managed the not inconsiderable achievement of converting a prosaic committee discussion of a bipartisan bill about pensions schemes into a partisan slag-off of herculean proportion. Highlights included Democrats abandoning the committee room and huddling, defiant, in a library (all the tennis-courts of the oath-taking variety were presumably booked for play) whence the Republican committee chair summoned the Washington DC police to arrest them – for what exactly, is still not clear.
Once the police had fled in horror at the very thought of having to deal with
a matter so totally outside their brief – let alone inclination – photo-opportunities were resumed until advantage was totally wrung out. Both parties then returned to the House chamber where they whiled away a non-productive afternoon in thunderous denunciations of each other.
The Washington Post in head-scratching mode (surely ironic!) observes that ‘many Democrats actually support the bill’. They all voted against it anyway. Let’s hope they never get to hear about Delta Goodrem in D.C.
Can you believe there are numnuts still adding to the original Tim-Tim posts? Is this gormless or deliberate self-parody?
A sad commentary on the lack of expressive outlets available to the bulk of humankind I think Chris. Instead of the time-honoured practice of baying collectively at the moon, we now bay from the cover of assumed blog identity in search of that elusive “place to stand.’
Either that, or it’s gormlessness – as you suggest.
Must try baying at the moon sometime. I used to have a dog that actually did it, but only in her old age, and the habit increased as she got older. She seemed to get a lot out of it. One good prolonged bay, and she could just doze off for the rest of the night, and much of the next day. Maybe one has to grow into it …
I now think it is inevitable when all you do is slagg off at people.
You merely attract the ‘passionate’ pro and anti factions until they realise it is very boring and is the dumbing down of any news.
If they realise it!