Is The Herman Cain Trainwreck Over Yet?

I’ve been incredulous when it comes to Herman Cain since he came on the scene. He’s just one of the sideshows of the political circus that the media is fully invested in these days. I suppose we have to have something to laugh at and make fun of along the way.

I wrote Cain off immediately when I heard some of the crazy stuff he was saying about Muslims and his overall lack of seriousness on almost every issue.

He’s a shameless self promoter and good for him if he can get the brain dead media to play along and improve his brand. You can pretty much take it to the bank that he will end up on Fox News or who knows, maybe MSNBC — they seem to be trying to play catch up to Fox News these days.

The pattern that the media and the Washington talking heads perpetuate is to bring attention to someone or something, elevate it by repeating and nourishing it. Take a poll about it, which registers all the attention it just received. Then, use the poll to justify talking about it some more. When the media grows tired of it, they either tear it down or just ignore it and move onto the next sideshow. I know I’m not the only one who sees this pattern.

Herman Cain has had a pretty long run at it so far, considering all the missteps he’s made along the way. There certainly is no shortage of gaffes when it comes to Herman Cain’s ride on the media merry-go-round. Here is just one example from Roland Martin’s blog, go read the rest.

1) Nein! Nein! Nein!

The Foot: Herman Cain’s controversial tax plan, the 9-9-9 Plan. He says it will promote fairness in our tax code. Critics say it will shift the tax burden on the poor and middle class.

Moment When Foot Entered Mouth: During a series of debates, Cain’s idea repeatedly got punched in the face with the most fatal blows coming from just about everyone else on the stage, including Mitt Romney during the Las Vegas debate when it turned into an embarrassing discussion of “Apples v. Oranges,” and during the Bloomberg News debate when Michele Bachmanntotally went there and said 9-9-9 was a little too close to 6-6-6. Cain’s not Abel! He’s got the Mark of the Beast, according to Bachmann! The power of Christ compells you!

Ultimate Foot Fatality: The makers of the video game Sim City point out Cain’s advisors may have ripped of the 9-9-9 plan from their game, Sim City 4, which was like crack to me.

Cain’s Response: He tried to tweak the plan and still insists that it works. Cain has said 9-9-9 so many times, my mother doesn’t call him Herman Cain, but the “9-9-9 Man.” Typical conversation: “Danielle, did you hear what that crazy 9-9-9 man said today?”

I love the part where Bachmann thinks that 999 is just a little too close to 666. Tell me this shit isn’t funny?

So yesterday, all the buzz on the internet and Twitter was about his Libya gaffe while being interviewed by the editors at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. This gaffe is seriously going to make it a lot harder for the media to continue their Herman Cain distraction, but I’m not saying they won’t give it a try and may just keep it rolling. In case you missed it, here is Steve Benen’s description of what happened when Cain was asked the simple question “Do you agree with President Obama on Libya?”…

“OK, Libya,” Cain said, apparently trying to remember why the country is important. After nine seconds of silence, the Republican added, “President Obama supported the uprising, correct? President Obama called for the removal of Gadhafi. Just want to make sure we’re talking about the same thing before I say, yes I agree, or no I didn’t agree. I do not agree with the way he handled it for the following reason: no, that’s a different one.”

After another seven seconds of silence, Cain managed to say, “I gotta go back to see — got all this stuff twirling around in my head. Um, specifically, what are you asking me, did I agree or not disagree with Obama on?”

Eventually, the presidential hopeful tried to say he disapproved of Obama’s handling of Libya, though Cain couldn’t offer a coherent reason why.

Now I’m not sure if the reference to things twirling around in his head is related to the “merry-go-round” analogy I proposed, but it would explain it now, wouldn’t it?

I keep wondering when the media is going to tell the untold story of the Republican primary – the one where the party is in complete disarray and is flirting with candidates like Cain, Perry, Bachmann, Paul and even Trump. They really DO NOT want to nominate Mitt Romney as the candidate and a few years ago, the media would have been all over that story. It may be one that is yet to come, maybe they are saving it for the next lap on the campaign racetrack.

So, is it over for Herman Cain now or will the media keep the ride going? They seem to be enjoying themselves and of course, it keeps them from having to report on President Obama’s campaign to bring jobs to people who are struggling or the unbelievable attempts to prevent any job creation by the Republican Party. So much of what is wrong with our media is what they fail to report when they are off chasing “balloon boys” across the sky.

Cross-posted at Angry Black Lady Chronicles