Public fools for $800 Alex

Jeopardy! is a favorite show around our house.  It comes on when dinner preparations are starting so is an interesting diversion from daily routines.  It covers a wide range of subjects.  It offers an fascinating peek into the sociology of a country where being smart is no longer a significant factor in getting a good job.  It provides me with insights into exactly what my scary-smart partner actually knows.  And it keeps me intellectually humble by pointing out those areas I know nothing about—not surprisingly I just kill in categories like history, geography, the Bible and religious history, classical music, science and technology, but am quite hopeless in areas like pop culture, novels, or movie trivia.

The best contests are between folks who have tested their way onto the show (or the contests between major former winners).  The absolute worst are the "celebrity" matches where the questions have been dumbed down so that the celebrities won't be hopelessly embarrassed.  Normally, I won't even view celebrity contests because they are soooo stupid they are actually painful to watch.

But last week, we got to see a "celebrity" face-off between some of Washington D.C.'s most famous public "intellectuals."  Sure enough, the questions had been dumbed down to roughly a sixth-grade level so that everyone could look good and win lots of money for their charities.  Unfortunately, the questions had not been dumbed down nearly enough and so we had the spectacle of the New York Times' top pundit and best-selling author, Tom Friedman, fumbling a question on who invented the cotton gin—and other questions equally easy.  It explained why the man gets so many insights from his Bangalore taxi drivers—they are obviously MUCH better informed.

So for those who wonder why folks from USA are often ridiculously uninformed, the main reason is that the people being paid the big bucks to inform us are hopelessly ignorant—something that was on full display last week.

Power Players in Jeopardy!

May 19, 2012 by Henry Shivley

The propaganda machine, in a desperate attempt to regain some small measure of credibility, employed an interesting technique this week, Jeopardy! Power Players. All this week the number one game show in the United States featured contestants drawn from the ranks of the mainstream propagandists. This little blitz was carefully orchestrated with clips of the Jeopardy! contest appearing on CNN, MSNBC, and FOX.

These propagandists are being billed by Jeopardy! literally as those who shape the thinking of the American public and every effort was made to portray them as intellectuals. However the questions for the contest were at a high school level and even at that, many of the contestants, like Chris Matthews, embarrassed themselves as their lack of any real intelligence became undeniable.

Those who were able to excel at a high school level were portrayed as geniuses and the next day were put front and center to push every propaganda issue in the mainstream. I would have to think that Jeopardy! has compromised its own dignity in agreeing to whore itself for the propaganda machine.

This little episode should do a lot to help the public realize just how pathetic these talking heads are. The fact is they are nothing more than teleprompter readers and wouldn’t know a critical thought if it bit them on the arse.

Jeopardy! has hosted events wherein celebrities are featured. The questions are dumbed down and the contest is not taken seriously as any kind of intellectual event. In comparing the celebrities with these so called Power Players, there is no discernible difference, which just serves as further proof as to what we have been asserting all along. These individuals, that too many are taking seriously as news reporters, are nothing more than another bunch of actors playing other roles in another theater.

If this is the best that the elitists’ think tanks can come up with, I would have to say that we in the alternate media have our enemies on the ropes. more