Intellectually saucy

This weekend, Hillary Clinton apparently gave an interview to a sympathetic journalist. He asked her to describe herself in three words and she responded with five "I am a real person." Now everyone is having a field day. The brick bats are coming from the right wing primarily but what I find interesting is why, in this particular instance, it has spurred such a cultural response.

Insisting "I am a real person" is a prima facie evidence of a failed Turing Test. cc: @hillaryclinton

— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) September 20, 2015

That is a clever jab, complimenting the reader on his assumed knowledge of the Turing Test.

Then there is the allusion to the Voight-Kampff test to identify androids in Philip K. Dick's Blade Runner

This is the kind of thing that sets off the Voight-Kampff machine. https://t.co/7D7C1DOqr1

— Noah Rothman (@NoahCRothman) September 20, 2015

"I am a real person." https://t.co/jZuGY8NhKt

— Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) September 20, 2015

So much of political commentary is simply pugalistic verbal barbs. Why are they clever here and not in most cases?