Third Lunch

I once worked briefly with a guy who had risen to very lofty heights in both print and broadcast journalism. (This is no mean feat, as the two disciplines are mutually jealous, competitive and distrustful). I didn't work with him long enough to gauge whether his talents and performance actually were deserving of his positions, but I do know how he got them--he was the world's most entertaining lunch partner.

Weaving incredulous, inspirational, profane, gossipy and uniformly hilarious stories, you stood up after that first two hour meal feeling guilty for not paying extra for the entertainment. He was that good. So good that you looked for any chance to do lunch with him again. And when it came, it didn't really seem to matter that the second time around the stories weren't nearly so good. Maybe he was just having an off day.

But by the third lunch...along with someone meeting him the for the first time...it was clear that he had just two hours of A list material. That was his act. And hearing all that stuff again wasn't nearly as entertaining.

Which leads me to John McCain and Sarah Palin. All those years we met McCain for just a minute at a time, delivering a couple soundbites on the evening news, he sure sounded 'maverick-y', didn't he? And when Palin stepped on the convention stage and delivered her first speech, she really did seem like a breath of fresh air, right?

Well, now it's old. It's so painfully obvious that they only have a few memorable things to say. And they've said them--over and over again. They really have no ability to adjust to new conditions or a changing environment--just like the current resident of the White House.

It is boring. It is sad. It is their third lunch.