On the Sinatra Effect

          On the Sinatra Effect

          There’s something that I call the “Sinatra Effect”. I once saw a video clip of Frank Sinatra when he was young and cute and charming and appealing. This astonished me, for my whole life I only knew Sinatra as old and ugly and bitter and scary. This disconnect is what I call the Sinatra Effect.

          Likewise, I never knew “conservatives” as conserving the use of government power; nor as prudent rational traditionalists. On the contrary! They may still be running on that reputation, but most people now alive never knew them like that. Thus, a Sinatra Effect.

          In general the Sinatra Effect afflicts anyone or anything that outlives its appeal. For instance, Bill Cosby.