I could have written this article, almost word for word. It has come to my attention, having a few acquaintances who periodically are asked to be on the cable tv segments (and who Google the topic at hand furiously for a few hours prior), that the stupid professional political talking heads are only slightly more advanced than high school sophomores when it comes to these brief tv appearances and what they view as the “keys to success.” And it’s a bipartisan rule book. Not even people whose opinions I respect are above the fray. You can see it as it evolves. Do you want to know who made “Look,..” Popular? Newt Gingrich, except he did it at the time as part of his natural speaking syntax. Idiots like hilary rosen thought, wow, that sounded really convincing! Now, they’re first word out of their mouths is “look,...” Even if it isn’t appropriate for the natural flow of back and forth conversation. Regrettably, the cable tv producers seem to reward this herd-like mentality, so they all think they have to do it. We need to hear from people who aren’t trying to convince us (and deep down, themselves) how important they are. Dick Armey is an example. Thanks for the post.
I could have written your reply AND article word for word! I keep telling my wife that someone has probably made a drinking game out of Karl Rove saying the word “look” before every sentence.
It’s probably already mentioned, but the newest cliche going around is “game changer”.