On the bus or into the pudding

My generation grew up with a binary political perspective. For us, everything was black or white, white or black, no shades of gray. You were either “on the bus, or off the bus.” As we matured, the children of the sixties, the boomers, or–as I like to call us–the greatest generation set aside the bus metaphor and that penchant for binary discrimination. We opened our tents or our kimonos or whatever, and we welcomed just about everybody inside. Jon Stewart, some kind of Gen Xer I guess, seems to have learned nothing from our history. He has dusted off the tired “bus” metaphor and has launched an expotition, not to the North Pole, but rather to Washington DC. His caravan comprises a cross section of American life: working moms, muslims, salsa dancers and at least one Republican co-ed from a southern college. Diverse? So it appears, superficially. But Stewart’s contrived model of “inclusion” can not obscure that essential flaw… we are all either on the bus (like the half a dozen or so privileged Daily Show selectees), or off the bus, like the other six billion of us.

A better metaphor for group dynamics, a less contentious, more inclusive, and yes, sexier model is evoked by the phrase “into the pudding.” You see, we can all be in the pudding together, and if you should choose not to join us in the pudding, well then, that’s your trip. Rumors abound that the reflecting pool on the National Mall will be filled with chocolate pudding for the Rally to Restore Sanity. It’s likely that Olivia Munn herself will be on-hand to take the first leap into the pudding. I’ll be there, reporting live!

(A hat tip to Colin Pringle for his deep background research on being either in the pudding or on the bus.)