I thought that the 'Education and Media' forum here would be a good place to discuss the miserable performance of CNN's golden boy Wolf Blitzer on
the game show 'Jeopardy' tonite.
He was on as a guest playing for charity against Andy Richter and Dana Delaney.
Now, as I am sure you will recognize, Blitzer hosts the "Situation Room," CNN's keystone news analysis show that's usually on in the afternoons.
From what I have observed, the hallmark of the show is the wizened examination by Wolfie of the latest breaking news, with the concept "modeled on
the concept of the White House Situation Room...the program combines traditional reporting methods with the newest innovative online resources, making
the entire process of newsgathering more transparent and placing the latest news and information at the viewers' fingertips."
To put it bluntly, Wolf Blitzer embarrassed himself. When asked for a (paraphrased) "five-letter word that describes the emotional and financial
phenomenon that was common at the outset of the great depression and accompanied the U. S. stock market crash," Blitzer actually replied "a
crash". He was unable to provide answers to even the simplest gimme softball questions, whereas Delaney and Richter ran away with the show.
At the end of the final round, Wolf was IN THE HOLE by minus $4600. Andy Richter had him beat by a total of $39000 and won the round with $68000
going to charity. Blitzer was only able to walk away with the money that is the default "consolation prize" offered by the producers of the
show...$2000 to the charity of his choice.
It just struck me as hilarious and more than a little ironic that a guy that has spent his professional career "analyzing" complex domestic and
international military and political happenings, and moving and shaking among Washington and Wall Street power players got his butt handed to him by a
second tier talk show writer and late-nite comedian. Richter cleaned his clock.
My guess is that this is typical of the mainstream media talking heads. They read from a teleprompter pretty well and sound pretty good on a
microphone,but their actual fund of information and knowledge and their critical/abstract thinking skills are the pits. As a group, these people
couldn't think their way out of a wet paper sack. Yet they attempt to shape the opinions of the American public on a nightly basis.
Hmmm....reads from a teleprompter well, can't think his way out of a wet paper sack... Who does that bring to mind?
