‘Greatest American’ Part II

So, I tuned in to the Discovery Channel’s Greatest American tonight, about 15-20 minutes after it started. I was immediately relieved to see that my greatest fear (in this context) hadn’t been actualized; the five finalists weren’t Oprah, Elvis, Bill Clinton, George W Bush, and Ronald Reagan. I was somewhat dissappointed that Reagan made the cut, although one could mount a convincing argument for his inclusion (as one could for his exclusion).

At first blush it seemed that the entire program had devolved into a popularity contest, pep-rally, jackass-athon, but, as I continued to watch, I was impressed (overall) with the level of dialogue; although I was a little puzzled that the panel onstage included Randy “Yo, dog; I used to be the bass player for Journey” Jackson… am I missing something here? (I get the American Idol connection, but still, how does his ’skill’ at judging third-rate ‘musicians’ translate to this?)

The interesting thing is this, of the four (in my opinion) legitimate candidates, I’m having a heck of time deciding. Martin Luther King? Abe Lincoln? Ben Franklin? George Washington? I’m going to have to put some further thought into this. As I pointed out in my previous post on this subject, you can vote here.

My faith in the American population renewed, I’m anxiously awaiting next week’s announcement of the “Greatest American”; and, as long as it’s not Ronald Reagan, I will be satisfied with the choice.

And yes, I do realize that this is basically a geeky version of “American Idol”, but, in my defense, a hundred years from now people will still know (and care) who George Washington and Martin Luther King Jr. were.