Once again, I have to quote Robert Heinlein: “The United States has become a place where professional athletes and entertainers are mistaken for people of significance.”
Sterling says this, Silver says that, Magic says this, Barkley says that. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Yep; “Bread and circuses”.
“or bread and games) (from Latin: panem et circenses) is metonymic for a superficial means of appeasement. In the case of politics, the phrase is used to describe the creation of public approval, not through exemplary or excellent public service or public policy, but through diversion; distraction; or the mere satisfaction of the immediate, shallow requirements of a populace,[1] as an offered “palliative.” Juvenal decried it as a simplistic motivation of common people.[2][3][4] The phrase also implies the erosion or ignorance of civic duty amongst the concerns of the commoner.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bread_and_circuses