I recall the song: “Is That All There Is”. It was said in one critique that “This song, and Ms. Lee’s searing vocal interpretation, prefigured the 21st Century zeitgeist; anxiety, depression, nihilism—all with a quirky touch of detached amusement….”. Peggy Lee’s musical articulation was pitch-perfect.
This is my favorite stanza:
When I was 12 years old
My daddy took me to the circus
The greatest show on earth
There were clowns and elephants, dancing bears
And a beautiful lady in pink
Tights flew high above our heads
And as I sat there watching
I had the feeling that something was missing
I don’t know what, but
When it was over
I said to myself
Is that all there is to the circus?
Is that all there is
Is that all there is?
If that’s all there is my friends
Then let’s keep dancing
Let’s break out the booze and have a ball
If that’s all there is
As I write, politics has become circus. The iconic circus, Ringling Brothers, retired to its winter home in 2017. It’s a museum in Sarasota, Florida.
I can recall those days when the circus train came to the town where I grew up. I was a part of the voluntary crew of boys that put up the one-ring venue, to my eyes a tall tent—a three-story tent in a one-story town.
I was particularly mesmerized by the elephants. They were the muscle. They were guided by the elephant trainer to elevate the tent to the point where center poles could be put in place. My mind’s eye can still see the rising canvas.
But as I later reflected, a lingering impression remained. I was given a close-up look. I saw the bare earth before the staging was added. I got to see the performers before they put on their costumes. The clowns and animal trainers and high-wire artists looked quite ordinary. Their costumes were crucial to their mystique. And so it is with politicians.
President Biden, once seen as an agile and thoroughly engaged United States Senator, is now seen as an elderly man who struggles to maintain an in-charge appearance while immersed in international conflict and intrigue.
President Trump, once New York City’s king developer, has been forced to constantly use the victim card while struggling to find a liquidity option to cover his fines. In the circus, he would have been cast as a high-wire act while doubling as the Barker.
Both, shorn of their costumes and staging and weakened by age, recall the refrain: “Is That All There Is.” “The Greatest Show on Earth”?
President Biden cannot go back. I am sure he would like to have departed Afghanistan differently. And would perhaps have chosen a different running mate. But time is inexorable. Ask the survivors of circuses past.
Today: eight months before Election Day we—all of us—know two things. We certainly know the likely candidates in the battle of incumbents. And we anticipate that the critical mass of undecideds will vote for the least disliked. Unless stirred by a transformative event.
And it is likely that the least disliked will turn on over and under scales. The scales will move around expectation and well-being. Keep in mind undecideds are frequently people who judge well-being at the cash register. And prices have been up.
Currently the President seems to me weighed down. He has to defend. For example, he declared Bidenomics and then the cash register turned against him.
Today the pollsters have replaced the circus barkers. And the polls say that eight months out Trump will win.
If I was forced to bet, I would put a dollar on Donald Trump. Why only a dollar? Because he will need support from those he has called outcasts, to reach an electoral majority. Ironically he denigrates anybody who doesn’t bend their knee in his direction. Which is, according to pollsters, approximately 70% of the electorate. Peggy Lee would look back from the other side and sing: “is that all there is”.
Refusing to abandon the need for closing thoughts, here is my recommendation. The President and his friends should find a very appealing job for Vice President Kamala Harris freeing Biden to choose a new running mate. I don’t judge Ms. Harris as deficient, but repeat what the polls have long told the President. Does it make sense to pair two unpopular candidates?
And if they, the President and Vice President would take a turn away from the boringly predictable then my dollar would be bet the other way and Ms. Harris would have an opportunity to frame a new image where she is in charge. At the end of the day Harris is not helped by being captive to an unpopular President and an image that will not be reversed on the high-wire.
Ringling Brothers, and before brevity, Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus had to leave town. They were running out of money. The business model had turned against them. I think the political model has turned against the incumbents, but since this is politics and government, they will only leave town when forced to by us.
Al Sikes is the former Chair of the Federal Communications Commission under George H.W. Bush. Al writes on themes from his book, Culture Leads Leaders Follow published by Koehler Books.
Paul Rybon says
I’d like to suggest that there was nothing superficial or phony about the Circus. The talent was easily as real as in any entertainment genre such as the theatre, opera, musical concerts, or films. What has changed is public perception, influenced by a cancel culture media. Changing public perception about caged animals, (animal cruelty) and the value of death- defying stunts nevermind the displays of unusual people for ridicule or wonderment. In other words, peoples perceptions changed, in a ‘woke’ world.
Similarly, politics has not changed, peoples perceptions about the role of government have changed. Or at least some of us. Maybe most of us, choreographed and directed by media. Careers have been advanced or destroyed by ‘likes’ or an avalanche of destructive tweets too powerful to ignore.
I’m not suggesting that we cancel the media even tho IT is all too eager to eliminate any of us if challenged. Media has destroyed or propped up most of the modern prominent politicians. Suggesting that we should trust our economy or military or our health to an incompetent president simply because he is guided and choreographed by a bunch of unelected ‘minders’ is the reality. Media tells us it’s ok
If we really want to save our country of the weight and oppression of the media we must begin to think for ourselves. Getting rid of economic policies that demean us IS important. Honest elections ARE important. Confronting the mobs that destroy our cities IS important. Honoring work and merit instead of equity IS important. Teaching our kids positive values and respect for our storied history and historical figures IS important if we care what happens to this Country. We must choose our leaders wisely this next go-round and not let the media mob determine the course of our future.
Mickey Terrone says
Mr. Sikes, I was disappointed by the shallow depth of your comparisons between Trump and Biden. While Biden is certainly well past his prime, he is fully capable of clear thought and leadership. I say that because he is not a “One-Man Show”. He has engaged an excellent cabinet and they receive the space to do their jobs. VP Harris, as a low profile, businesslike politician, is mistakenly perceived as barely capable of assuming the role of president. Racists and bigots underestimate her because she is a black woman as they demean women in general, and especially women of color.
You characterized Biden as “struggling to maintain an in-charge appearance”. Did you watch his SOTU speech? He was very much in-charge and he owned the sadsack Republicans who are merely living off the lies of their fuhrer without the courage or morality to speak their own minds. Biden is fully immersed daily in foreign affairs and also working to convince or preach to congressional Republicans into voting on the bi-partisan immigration bill to which Senate Republicans and Democrats agreed, but ordered to kill by their fuhrer because it would allow Biden to appear to succeed in resolving, even partially, this ongoing issue.
You wrote that Trump “will need support from those he has called outcasts, to reach an electoral majority. Actually, he’ll need support from those who he has called “vermin”, those whom he has already denied affordable health care, as well as the women whom he has worked to deny their right to choose to end pregnancies. He’ll need support from comatose poor whites who support his massive tax evasion to (himself and) multimillionaires, as well as endless social networking support from Putin and China. If Trump was president and the Dow had risen as high as 39,000, he would have dislocated his elbow patting himself on the back for that achievement, with low unemployment and 2.5% real GDP annual growth. By November, interest rates should be even lower and inflation should be no worse despite the unconscionable (and underpublicized) corporate greed that keep prices unnecessarily high.
While Trump creates his own circus atmosphere, there is nothing funny about his assault on our democratic republic. That so many American zombies appear to be willing to hand this thug, who has already tried to overthrow the election of 2020, the keys to governmental power is the egregious, flaming issue that people like you should be willing and able to confront directly. Why won’t you frame this 2024 campaign in stark terms?
Our democratic republic is what is at stake in 2024. Its not about Barnum and Bailey. Its about remembering why those young mens’ graves lie in neat rows at Normandy and all over Europe and Asia. They were fighting and sacrificing against the fascism and nazism that far too many mindless Americans seem to have forgotten in the mind numbing ocean Trump’s lies, deceptions and distortions.