Blogcritics The critical lens on today's culture & entertainment
“. . .This Is a Loser’s Song.” – Waco Brothers
Living in the southeast boonies of Arizona, I try to avoid watching local Phoenix television as much as possible – particularly the political ads. Watching a self-satisfied bully like Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio play Buford T. Justice in front of the cameras makes it all the more maddening that I don’t live where I can vote yea or nay on this blowhard, so who needs the frustration, eh?
And today I see an ad by Ben Quayle, callow son of famous quasi-illiterate Dan, who is running for the Republican nom in Az.’s 3rd congressional district. Ben’s newest poli-ad opens on a calculatedly provocative note, stating that present president Obama is “the worst president in history.”
This line may please the Tea Party, but as a member of the audience more invested in the niceties of language, I find myself loudly questioning, “in history?” The phrase connotes time and perspective, after all – the judgment rendered after an event has passed, not two years into it. For Quayle to use it as the opener in an ad isn’t just an act of political hyperbole, it’s one of arrogant presumption.
Biggest twit in history? Let’s let the history books decide. . .
