Parallel universe or Moebius strip
Now here’s a thought: what if the contest to be the president of a large neighbouring nation was decided with a singing contest? We could spend the next few weeks (months?) watching all of the qualifying candidates performing songs chosen from a random hit parade list. All the necessary rights would be paid to the copyright holders, of course, and we could travel around the continent with our posse. I think I’ll call my program Idol Politician. It works on several different levels, and the advertising derivatives would be enormous.
As another season of respective showdowns gets past the audition level and gears up for some serious debating, the musical political scientist that lives within is pumped. No more reruns of CSI or ISC or SCI or whatever the latest variation is called. Instead, we’re into some mudslinging and peacock behaviour and all the other irrelevancies that keep me entertained through long icy winters. The primaries are as unique as the states that host them, just like the audition cities for Idol.
The Canadian Idol program has never “done it” for me, although Eva has a great style. The Canadian Political scene suffers from similar weaknesses. Dion versus Harper in a great debate; yawn. Give me a system where a former city mayor who watched his landmarks disappear on a warm summer day now has dropped out of the great race, without once singing for his supper. Or a system where a candidate can come back, year after year, to be abused by the judges. Or where candidates can perform, time after time for the public. Parallel universes. The primaries are as unique as the states that host them, just like the audition cities for Idol.
Parallel universes. No. Rather, a continuum that is probably a Moebius strip except that I can’t look in both directions at the same time. And to think that we have months to go before we know the winners. An amazing world we live in!
