Home » Responsibility Play of the Week: Congress, Baseball, or 30 Rock?

No budget...again.  Once again, the US Congress went to recess before a mid-term election without a budget.  "Continuing resolutions", where spending continues at prior year levels, will keep the government open, but in the midst of a prolonged recession, does this indecision make things worse and showcase the lack of responsibility of our elected officials or was it the right thing to do given the upcoming mid-term elections which may change the entire make-up of the Congress and therefore the budget?

Instant Replay.  Talk about opaque: one of the least transparent things in the world remains how Major League Baseball umpires make their decisions.  MLB is one of the last professional sports not using technology to improve the transparency and accuracy of its judgment calls.  Yet, at the same time, baseball games already go on forever and the reviews and challenges that would come with instant replay would make an already long game longer.  ESPN reported earlier today that a meeting between players, owners, and umpires was likely in the coming months to discuss implementing instant replay.  What's the right call?

30 Rock of Responsibility?  In one of the more insightful pieces of pop culture that's not the Daily Show, this week's 30 Rock illustrated the conflict between democracy and business.  The NBC exec portrayed by Alec Baldwin, "heads to Washington DC to speak on behalf of the NBC and Kabletown merger and faces obstacles from a Rhode Island Congresswoman," played by Queen Latifa.  The ensuing exchange shows how elected officials feel the need to rely on buzz words and flash phrases in order to be heard while business execs respond by ineffectually tap dancing when put on the spot by elected officials looking to score points.  Few commentaries do as good a job pointing out not just the flaws but the real human challenges of a market-based democracy.