Thursday, November 18, 2010

Y'know, they warned me the future would be like this.

Okay, go back in time to, say, the mid-1980s...

Grab some random stranger on the street and tell them that, in the future, a former vice presidential candidate's daughter was going to be on a celebrity dance contest show, and when she won, accusations would be flung that it was somehow rigged by her mom's political party, and one guy would be so outraged that he'd blow away his television with a shotgun and take his family hostage, causing his house to be surrounded by machinegun-toting cops in armored vehicles for a tense standoff that would attract national media attention.

They'd think you were pimping a sequel to Escape From New York or The Running Man, not describing some random November weekday in Wisconsin. I mean, female vice presidential candidate? That's the second oldest "near-future" science fiction trope in the book. (A black president is the oldest.)

18 comments:

Murphy's Law said...

I'd buy that for a dollar!

Anonymous said...

Who is Geraldine Ferraro, Alex?

I had no idea 1984 is the future.

Shootin' Buddy

Tam said...

It was in 1983.

You might not remember that far back. ;)

Buzz said...

I dunno. There's something afoot.
I'm trapped in a world where the only English language programming is BBC and CNN. (ugh)
They had the finalists on (yeah, news, right) and showed some clips of each.
I wasn't impressed with Bristol's skills, so I'm not sure how she made it as a finalist.
(I don't watch the show, nor any of its ilk, but I keep the TV on as background noise when I'm in my room.)

karrde said...

Strangely, when Carl Sagan wrote Contact, he had a female President.

When Hollywood did the movie, they skipped that...and spliced then-President Clinton into portions of the story.

Lame.

Nancy R. said...

So John Q. Public is upset that Bristol Palin won what is basically a popularity contest and blames the Tea Party, but thinks that same Tea Party is over-reacting in regards to the TSA?

My brain hurts.

Fuzzy Curmudgeon said...

Yeah, I'm sorry, but if anyone things the judges' scores really count for anything on that show, they're living in a dream world.

It's all about the phone-in votes.

McVee said...

I dont think it's John Q. Public that is upset, as Bristol got the most votes, but the elitist liberal left. And the crunchy rural Madison WI folk.

The irony is I read about how J6P is not interested in whats going on around Him, that His eyes are glued to Dancing with the stars... then this. Hmmm. Canary in a coal mine?

Anonymous said...

The 1984 election was in 1983?

No wonder the Democrats lost so decisively--they all showed up to vote in November of 1984!

Shootin' Buddy

Jay G said...

Heh. Me stole my comment...

McVee said...

And another thing. If it's all about talent and not votes...can you please explain how we ended up with Barry?

Tam said...

McVee,

"And another thing. If it's all about talent and not votes...can you please explain how we ended up with Barry?"

Check your mailbox tomorrow for your free internets. :)

Tam said...

SB,

"The 1984 election was in 1983?"

No.

You said "I had no idea 1984 is the future."

I replied "It was in 1983", which appears to have been poorly-phrased, so I will try rearranging the words:

"In 1983, it was."

Better? :)

Anonymous said...

What's the big deal? It's just a little affirmative action for a single mom.
This kind of thing happens all the time.

Armed Texan said...

Which of Geraldine Ferraro's daughters was this? And really, is that surprising considering how the Democrats "manipulate" the vote in Chicago and Houston?

Mike S said...

This is not the America I grew up in! Used to be, you could shoot your TV and no one cared, much less made a major police action out of it.

Gewehr98 said...

McVee,

Be damned careful with that big ol' paintbrush. This rural Madison folk and Mrs. G-98 were rooting for Bristol vs. Brandy, quite honestly. We're not particularly crunchy, either. Just sayin'...

McVee said...

GeWehr98, forgive Me. My comment was referring to the enraged individual mentioned in the article.
Also, I saw what you had for breakfast Sunday. That did not look like granola. You most certainly are not "crunchy" in my book. ;)
Best!