Obama, Paris Hilton and Scooter (Libby)

In Maryland, Barack Obama appears to continue to work on perfecting the one-liner that he has borrowed from fellow Illinois Senator, Dick Durbin (article here). In a speech last night, Obama said:

Even Paris Hilton got jail time, not Scooter. People are yearning for justice.

So, Paris Hilton is back in the one-liner (see comments here). And her name is mentioned first. Mr. Libby is now reduced to "Scooter." The laughter is almost guaranteed and the lack of substance could not possibly be of less consequence. It is the mere sound of the names together that is critical and the fact that a young, hip guy, like Obama, can smile and talk about Ms. Hilton, for the MTV generation.

Over in the more serious world, public opinion pollsters and reporters take care to use at least a dozen words describing exactly who Scooter Libby is and what happened to him before they ask questions and express their views. Why? No complex explanation is needed: most people do not know who Libby is and do not care. Gallup found only 20 percent of Americans were even willing to claim to have followed the "news" concerning Libby's commutation "closely" and the survey was run after critics of the commutation dominated media airways for five solid days, providing a steady rain of contempt, doom and gloom. Even then, Gallup took no chance on talking to Americans and getting a bunch of "don't knows" and "no opinions." The survey question coached respondents as much as possible : "How closely are you following the news about President Bush's decision to commute the prison sentence of former vice presidential aide, Lewis "Scooter" Libby?"

In sum, no intelligent member of the news media would write or report in the manner that Obama speaks. Why? Because Obama is entertaining, not informing. His rhetoric is like a Paris Hilton camera pose: valued for all the wrong reasons and easily reproduced. So, keep Paris in the one-liner, Barack. Without her, it is no line at all.