Posted on 12/18/2005 6:39:00 AM PST by NorthEasterner
Jumping the shark By Salena Zito TRIBUNE-REVIEW Sunday, December 18, 2005 Pop culture, like politics, has a language all its own, adopted from a multitude of sources. The most influential is television, which provides news, information and cultural influences in a constant stream. So it's fitting that we often use pop slang to describe political milestones.
"Jumping the shark" refers to the moment when something once-great ends, or even tumbles into free-fall. Its origin is the "Happy Days" episode in which the Fonz, on water skis, jumps a shark, marking the decline of the show.
Now take a moment to think of some Washington Beltway types who jumped the shark.
First up might be former President Jimmy Carter. Some would say he jumped the shark when he sat with Michael Moore at the 2004 Democrat convention -- a worthy moment, to be sure, but his demise actually was of a more serious nature. Carter's jump came with his inept handling of the hostage-taking in Iran, which in turn laid the groundwork for today's Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
(Excerpt) Read more at pittsburghlive.com ...
I disagree. It was surely an inept moment, but it lacks the ridiculous quality of an effete gesture to try to capture or sustain something that is clearly finished.
ok folks lets start naming your jts moments on Carter! :)
and clinton
and gore
and kerry
and dean, oh wait that is sooo obvious
we should have a little contest to see who nails it the closest...
I was in the army when reagan was president. During the 1984 campaign, some people who were in while carter was president described how things got better under reagans military budget(increase pay, ect)
"Jump the Shark" has great relevence when speaking of pop culture events, television, etc. A much better term for describing the demise of politician is "Ride the Tank", in reference to Michael Dukakis' famous crash and burn. I've proposed this phrase on FR before. Evidently it didn't catch on, so I'll suggest it here again
was in the Navy 1975-1979. We did the best we could, and I believe we were capable enough to perform missions if called on, but...the cuts in military spending were atrocious.
When I was up in the North Atlantic above the Artic Circle on the USS JFK, we did not have enough foul weather jackets to go around. We had to "hotseat" foul weather jackets (supplemented by stuffing cleaning rags inside them to make them warmer) so when someone came down off of the flight deck, they had to surrender their jacket to someone who had to go up.
What a pathetic POS Carter was, and is.
Absolutely! That was classic JTS
I can't top the hostage crisis, and the failed rescue attempt that was one of the saddest moments in our military history.
and clinton
So many to choose from, but the Ron Brown funeral video was the point when I became truly convinced the guy was a sociopath.
and gore
His dying sister speech at the convention was very loathsome.
and kerry
John Kerry, Reporting for duty!!! That pansy ass salute and ridiculous monent was as sad as it was funny.
wow great line!!!!!!!
Actually, there is no contest. Carter jumped the shark, appropriately enough, in his presidential debate with Ronald Reagan. Carter claimed that before the debate he had asked his daughter Amy, who was about 8 years old, what she thought was the most important issue and she had answered without hesitation "nuclear nonproliferation." I recall people literally guffawing to one another the next day about how totally unbelievable that was.
"Cindy Sheehan, the so-called "peace mom" on a crusade to end U.S. involvement in the Iraq war, is publicly blasting Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., for her continued support of the ongoing conflict. "I think she is a political animal who believes she has to be a war hawk to keep up with the big boys," Sheehan writes in an open letter posted on anti-Bush filmmaker Michael Moore's website. "I would love to support Hillary for president if she would come out against the travesty in Iraq. But I don't think she can speak out against the occupation, because she supports it.
I will not make the mistake of supporting another pro-war Democrat for president again: As I won't support a pro-war Republican."
I thought Happy Days had jumped the shark well before Fonzie actually did jump it.
Many would argue that Brady Bunch was shark bait from the get go, but most would probably say when they added Cousin Oliver. When I was younger, I thought Marcia was hot. I guess I still do.
Jimmy Carter was killed and eaten by land sharks from Saturday Night Live, well before he made it to the water.
Oh wait! .......
That was on SNL.
.........nevermind.
Ping!
"That pansy ass salute and ridiculous monent was as sad as it was funny."
True, but it did inspire the Swift Boater. ;-)
Oh yes, I do remember that. I agree that is a classic.
"...the Ron Brown funeral video was the point when I became truly convinced the guy was a sociopath."
What's scary about that is that if it hadn't been for Rush Limbaugh's TV show, none of us would have ever seen it. The MSM sure weren't going to expose his coldness and hypocrisy.
"I didn't inhale..."
Uh huh. After seeing the photo of him with his long hair and headband...yup.
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