Why is our political discourse so debased?
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BooMan
Martin Longman a contributing editor at the Washington Monthly. He is also the founder of Booman Tribune and Progress Pond. He has a degree in philosophy from Western Michigan University.
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Because politicians, the media, and Wall Street find it in their best interests for it to be debased, and the bulk of the population has fallen for it.
The right wing assault on the educational system hasn’t helped, either.
So did everybody watch MSNBC’s Meeting David Wilson last night? Incredible show!
Because Jack Cafferty doesn’t have his own show dedicated to tearing into the Clintons and John McCain. I’m still in awe over that exchange on CNN.
Replace Wolfie, please.
A new Rasmussen poll has Obama tied with McCain in — wait for it — North Carolina.
ABC News
Betcha, mornings and afternoons too.
So we have the Speaker basically calling Clinton old and senile.
Pelosi may as well make official her endorsement of Obama. Her top aides have.
But she can make her feelings known. I hope those feelings include the idea that if you want a seat on that committee you’ve been jonesing for, you’ll fall in line.
It’s common knowledge that Pelosi is not impressed with the Clinton’s, but she seems to be reveling in her status as Speaker to get in some serious digs. Her whole demeanor towards them the past few months have been nothing short of dismissive. Now, if only other people will get on board. I could only hope that Pelosi will also direct that ire toward the GOP criminals in her midst.
I think the Clintons (Bill and Hill, never mind their campaign) are starting to self-destruct. They are both so invested in the inevitability of their dynasty that the very idea of losing is inconceivable. The worse their prospects of winning look, the more desperate and incoherent they both become.
Bill cannot stand to lose an argument. He just has to get in one more dig, no matter what. And did you see Hillary lose it when someone asked her point blank about the $800,000 Bill had received from the Colombians to help on the trade deal? She cackled and babbled and burbled incoherently. The only semi-coherent thing she expressed was something about angels and pinheads. It was sad to see in a way. I fully expect that before this is over at least one of them will lose it completely. As in full bore, on camera meltdown.
well…that sure sends a resounding message.
A few years ago a comedian quipped that as long as people kept laughing at that line comedians would keep using it. Our political discourse is so debased because we the people are so debased – debased discourse works, it produces votes. When Flavor of Love (and it’s whitewashed cousin Rock of Love) bring in record ratings and when American Idol easily beats the ratings of the presidential debates you can rest assured that high-brow political discourse will be eternally eschewed by the vulgar masses.
It would be a wonderful thing if every American took our responsibility for self-governance seriously, but then too if all Americans took our responsibilities seriously then we wouldn’t be trillions of dollars in debt with our credit cards…
Well, it would be a wonderful thing if our schools went back to teaching civics classes as if civics mattered. My granddaughter is in fifth grade and I don’t think she’s heard word one about civics yet, other than what little she might have had to learn for a report on Washington state she did last year (e.g. the capital is Olympia, the governor is Christine Gregoire, and that’s about it).
Our kids are getting their lessons about politics the way they learn about sex — from the gutter and TV, with the exception of those parents who talk honestly and openly about the subject. And that’s a damn shame.
I blame bloggers and teh Google.
We did that, and a lot of other things you haven’t figured out yet.
I think that’s VERY unfair to Google.
Is Obama windsurfing in purple baggies?
The problem is that since the demise of FDR each presidential rotation gets farther and farther away from reality. The Republicans are so far from reality that their howling must become louder and louder in order to keep people angry and fearful and worshipping the idols and icons who will protect them from the unknown. The unknown is unknown simply because people will not look at reality.
This latest eruption in the Democratic primary, that somehow Obama dissed the Rust Belt by mentioning the cause of their bitterness and the okey doke that the Republicans (and Clinton) use to distract people from their real problems is a perfect example of how politics demands that the populace deny reality. Rust Belt? Bitterness? I don’t see any of that here. I see hardworking, shiny happy people. Let’s keep moving, let’s not look at reality. It must be some rich San Francisco elite thing.
The reason for why political discourse is so debased, so disconnected from reality, is because reality is the enemy of most of our politicians these days.
real quick….im in florida….god its beautiful here….weather wise i mean….so far from what ive heard from all these old people around the pool….they are completely undecided….they have no idea who they want to vote for….not one person had anything to say good or bad about any candidate….just that they dont know what they are going to do in the booth….and they are all pissed they are losing money in the stock market and their homes arent worth crap anymore.
on the other hand they are very sure of their american idol picks…..they dont like the guy with the dreads (my fave) the tattooed irish lassie, or the guy with the elton john hair ….they loved the aussie (too bad he is gone) and they love the dumb blonde boring nanny.
I’m sorry they’re losing money but I consider it good news that they are undecided.
There’s more, of course, but these are the ones that jump out at me. As you can see, it’s a combination of long-standing tensions/troubles in US life and relatively contemporary issues of technique in the media themselves.
I think it is a big, big, big mistake to promote the “Well, people are stupid and this is what they want” meme. First of all, it calls for quietism; second, it insults the very people we should be trying to reach.
Third, it seems to be undercut by the enthusiasm generated by Obama’s campaign. For some of us, the major reason to support Obama is that his campaign stands a chance of making a large dent in the idiocy of our contemporary discourse, and even eliminating some of the factors mentioned above.
Our political discourse is so debased because it is thought of as a game that is intertwined with the mass media, which is equally debased. In other words, political disourse is coded for “mass media” rules of “interpretation.” The politicians keep tossing bright shiny objects, buzz words, fear words, fake outrage, and the press responds as stenographers in “he said”-“she said” dialogues in which “both” sides are equal (note, there are only two sides) simply because they are positions — that is defined as objectivity. So basically, there is this huge discussion going on about nothing, a discussion that is unmoored to any reasonable definition of reality.
BTW, part of Obama’s strength is that he is NOT doing this. I suppose the media are so amazed by this novelty that they do more or less report what he says. He gets people thinking. Even (to some extent) reporters, apparently.