Short Answers to Long Questions

Peter Hornby • April 19, 2008

I don't know who originally came up with the Internet meme : "Short Answers to Long Questions". Anecdotal evidence suggests that it might have been The Poor Man. Whatever. The idea jumped back into my mind while I was reading a recent post in Robert Reich's blog, referring to Tim Russert and his "Meet The Press" guests riffing on Barack Obama's "bitter" quote:

Q: [Posed by Reich] : Does Russert really believe he’s doing the nation a service for this parade of spin doctors talking about potential spins and the spin-offs from the words Obama used to state what everyone knows is true? Or is Russert merely in the business of selling TV airtime for a network that doesn’t give a hoot about its supposed commitment to the public interest but wants to up its ratings by pandering to the nation’s ongoing desire for gladiator entertainment instead of real talk about real problems.

A: Regrettably, the second.