Not So Much Ado About A Hairdo
It’s certainly a long and often practiced rhetorical device in politics: when faced with a question you don’t want to answer, change the subject. The best politicians, of course, are those who can accomplish this without their audience – or even the interviewer – really noticing what’s happened.
Unfortunately, (or perhaps fortunately, in the interest of comedy) that tactic does not always work, something evident in Rep. Cynthia McKinney 's round of interviews this week (on pretty much every network) about her kerfuffle with a Capitol Hill police officer.
Instead of what some might call evading, or perhaps, artfully dodging direct questions about what happened that day, McKinney opted to simply ignore them entirely, relying on the catchy go-to unrelated response, “Much ado about a hairdo.” Clever, no? It rhymes and it’s a reference to Shakespeare. Apparently, the strategy was that if repeated often enough, McKinney’s description of the actual event – the facts, let’s call them – would become less of a concern. Indeed it’s a slightly odd plan of attack: appearing on a series of programs to tell your side of the story and then, well, refusing to tell your side of the story.
Let’s go to the transcripts.
Unfortunately, (or perhaps fortunately, in the interest of comedy) that tactic does not always work, something evident in Rep. Cynthia McKinney 's round of interviews this week (on pretty much every network) about her kerfuffle with a Capitol Hill police officer.
Instead of what some might call evading, or perhaps, artfully dodging direct questions about what happened that day, McKinney opted to simply ignore them entirely, relying on the catchy go-to unrelated response, “Much ado about a hairdo.” Clever, no? It rhymes and it’s a reference to Shakespeare. Apparently, the strategy was that if repeated often enough, McKinney’s description of the actual event – the facts, let’s call them – would become less of a concern. Indeed it’s a slightly odd plan of attack: appearing on a series of programs to tell your side of the story and then, well, refusing to tell your side of the story.
Let’s go to the transcripts.
Author Thomas Friedman on Obama's Afghanistan plan and the war on terror.
