Why all the hate in politics? A news observer sees it regularly. Sometimes, it comes in the form of jokes done in bad taste about the assassination of Vice-President Dick Cheney, as posted on the Huffington Post website last week. In worse cases, pundits resort to downright slurs. The latest trend in attack politics seems to be to start insulting opponents’ sexual orientation. Right-winger Ann Coulter used the term “faggot” against Democratic Presidential candidate John Edwards in a speech, and Quebec radio host Louis Champagne said that factory workers would never work for a “tapette,” Quebecer slang for “fag,” referring to Parti Quebecois leader Andre Boisclair.
Every time an election seems to be around the corner (a few months for us, two years for the States), all the basest in politicians and pundits’ personalities seems to come out. If the other side doesn’t agree with your policies and beliefs, feel free to use any of the mots du jour, such as terrorist, racist, flip-flopper or my personal favourite, “Islamofascist.” National Socialism and World War 2 references are also back in style, with “Nazi” and “Anti-Semite” being slung about rather freely.
Any of us who’ve gotten out of our apathetic states and actually been inspired to engage in politics have no doubt been lured into thinking the other side was somehow worse than just different. The plurality of opinions and direct confrontation in debates and campaigns can stir up emotions. Whether one still thinks that Prime Minister Harper is a dictator or President Bush little more than a primate, it doesn’t take too much to realize that the only way to properly promote one’s own beliefs and counter the others is to do so on the basis of facts, logic, and civil debate.
Yet with the way election campaigns are covered these days in the 24-hour newscycle media, a well-thought out refutation of the other side’s argument doesn’t hold a candle to the punch of a five-second soundbyte calling the other side a “nasty woman,” as Newt Gingrich did to Hillary Clinton. In the end, all this name-calling just damages the already terrible reputation of politics in the eyes of young people.
This all leads into the fundamental question of how media outlets and reporters ought to deal with negative tactics used by political campaigns. Hopefully, there is an agreement that these sorts of comments have no place in the public sphere. If the press stopped giving publicity to them, and television stations had the courage to say no to egregiously negative ads, campaign officials would have to rethink their strategies. This is wishful thinking though. The solution is really for the public to stop being tolerant of this kind of sleazy politics and make their feelings be known to both media officials and the politicians themselves. Politicians for their part must stand up and call out the other side for their employment of personal attacks. The worst part about this practice is the realization that political parties receive taxpayer dollars in the form of federal funding. This columnist for one does not want his money supporting this.
To those of whom who have the luxury of managing the airwaves, there is a responsibility to ensure that those airwaves are free of libel, hate and incivility. Of course, there ought to be plenty of room for caricature and satire, and no limits on political speech. Where there should be restraint though is in the choices made by the editors, news chiefs and media masters who make the final call on what gets put in print and what does not.
Aggressive mudslinging and scorched-earth politics can be construed to be simply a consequence of a culture that is becoming more aggressive in itself. When torture-horror films become a regular and profitable genre, when political leaders feel they have to send troops off to war to prove they are worthy and when Arnold Schwarzenegger can become Governor for two terms, something definitely appears to be amiss. Visceral thrill and edginess for its own sake attracts audiences, sure, but is peace and love just not hip anymore?
=//Turnquest
No comments:
Post a Comment