Keller @ Large: Out-Of-Control Hype
BOSTON (CBS) - Tough break for the Newt Gingrich presidential campaign late last week, when they failed to qualify for the primary ballot in Virginia, his home state for the past 12 years.
Listen to Jon's commentary:
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They claim the process to get on the ballot there is too difficult, and in fact, Michele Bachmann, Jon Huntsman, Rick Perry and Rick Santorum also failed to make it, leaving the battle to Mitt Romney and Ron Paul.
Too bad, but since Virginia votes on Super Tuesday, along with nine other states, I suspect little media attention will be paid.
And I think Gingrich's campaign director went a bit too far when he wrote on Facebook that he and the candidate had discussed their setback and "agreed that the analogy is December 1941," meaning the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that brought the United States into World War II.
Hmm.
Let's break out the scales: the destruction of much of the U.S. Pacific fleet, 2,400 Americans killed and nearly 1,300 wounded, versus a minor setback for a poorly-organized political candidate.
Yes, of course, there's a real equivalency there!
But sarcasm aside, it's worth noting that Gingrich's alarmingly inflated sense of self-importance is not an exception in our culture these days, but more like the norm.
If you watch enough of the talent-competition shows that proliferate on TV, you will see people who really ought to be grateful they got on TV at all go into emotional meltdowns because they didn't win first prize.
It seems as if we don't just have big blizzards or hurricanes anymore; we have the storm of the century, packing a historic punch as we stock up on bottled water most of us will never have to drink.
And getting back to politics, every election is presented as an apocalyptic turning point in the battle between good and evil.
Or, as Newt Gingrich might put it, a decision that will live in infamy.
You know, like the last time a debate moderator said his time was up.
You can listen to Keller At Large on WBZ News Radio every weekday at 7:55 a.m. and 12:25 p.m. You can also watch Jon on WBZ-TV News.
