Wednesday, April 5

The Laugh is on CNN

It's 6:34 pm CST out here in "fly-over land" and I just watched the most ridiculous report on CNN that probably has EVER broadcast over television (or probably any other media).

It seems William Buckley said that Hillary Clinton is a "political phenomenon." CNN interprets that as praise and did a whole 5-minutes on Buckley praising Clinton. Anyone who understands the English language, however, and who knows Bill Buckley (as CNN should since he's been around longer that CNN has) understands exactly what Buckley meant by that comment.

According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a phenomenon is 1. an observable event (nothing remarkable there -- everyone knows who the senator from New York, ex-first lady -- well, maybe not a lady in the true sense of the word -- is). Definition #2 says a phenomenon has to do with sensory perception and is therefore not applicable in any sense here. Definition #3 (which is obviously what Buckley meant) is that it is a rare or significant fact or event.

The first woman in history running a serious campaign for President of the United States quite obviously fits that last definition. And there is no praise for her in that statement, nor is there criticism. Most certainly it's not a comment worthy of an entire feature implying that Buckley supports Clinton's candidacy or that he said anything nice about her at all.

Truth is, the statement was pure pablum. Neither criticism nor praise.

I'm glad Buckley got the attention, though. I'm sure he's used to that kind of sheer stupidity (Wolf Blitzer certainly is not one of the nation's greatest intellects by a long shot) and I imagine he's rather amused at it.

Meanwhile, it gave his fans a chance to see that, in his 80s, he's still around and doing great. And it gives us a good laugh at CNN's expense.

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