What does bread and circuses mean?It means you and Google need to get better acquainted.
Bread and circuses is a concept that dates back to ancient Rome. It involved the government giving away cheap food and staging entertainment as a method of placating the population so they would turn a blind eye to problems within the state. It can still mean that, but these days, it implies people are distracted by frivolous things like television, celebrity gossip, and sports to care about civic duty.
The latter definition is the one to which I am usually referring. When Barack obama moved his jobs speech to Thursday, he was not only concerned with accommodating congress, but making certain his speech does not preempt the NFL season opener. Last year, his press secretary fielded questions on whether the State of the Union speech would preempt the season premiere of Lost. It sounds like Americans have decided bread and circuses is far more important than political awareness. Not that tuning out Obama speeches is a bad thing.
I also realize with celebrity photos and television reviews outnumbering political posts 2-1 on a regular basis, I am flirting with hypocrisy here. I have not got her liquored up and had my way with her yet, but we are definitely dancing cheek to cheek. You may pass judgment as you see fit.
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