December 12, 2004
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The new American Civil War – Why it’s hard to be blue in a red state.
I was reading Dave Barry’s column in the Tulsa World today. In his article he describes those of us who are “blue” as “Godless, unpatriotic, pierced-nose,
Seriously, being a Democrat in
I’ve lived through the Kennedy assassination, Vietnam, Watergate, Billy Beer, the Iran-Contra scandal, The Gulf-War, the impeachment of Clinton, and 911 and I do not recall a time where America has been as emotionally polarized as it is today along partisan lines. And nowhere does it rear its ugly head as it does in political advertising.
The recent Senate race here in
The average Television and Radio ad sounded something like this: “Brad Carson has proposed that all elementary and secondary school teachers in
The real issue is that both sides are appealing more to emotion than to reason. That is understandable because elections aren’t won on reason, they are won on emotion. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with emotion. Without emotion real political change would never happen. The civil rights movement would not have marched forward as it did without the “I have a dream” speech, and we would all be taking afternoon tea if we had not gotten mad enough to dump a bunch of Earl Grey in Boston Harbor. But emotion without reason is a very dangerous thing. Read the writings of Thomas Jefferson. It may be the most emotionally charged thing you’ll ever read, but also the most eloquent and reasonable.
I long for real political debate in this country. Not partisan rhetoric but a thoughtful, reasoned discussion of the issues. I long for an environment where each side treats the other with respect and people feel free to speak their mind.
Now that is something I could get emotional about.
Comments (2)
Politics wear me out! I don’t understand why people can’t have different theories/ideas and still get along. My hubby’s a democrat and I’m a republican (and no I don’t vote straight ticket). We do pretty well.
You know, I think it’s a hard time to debate and disagree because of 911. There has been a huge change in warfare, and some people don’t get it at all, some people are slowly beginning to see the ramifications, and some think they understand (but no doubt they don’t really “get” enough on which to basis decisions, because this historical era will be understood only in retrospect, but yet decisions must still be made, in such uncertainty and cloudy understanding)
And we want to support our troops; we as a nation are in no way going to make our modern troops suffer what the Vietnam War soldiers suffered from public opinion. At the same time, there has to be a way to discuss international politics and the decisions around the war without disrespecting the soldiers…but we haven’t found that way quite yet.
Political “debate” and campaigning are hereafter not going to be about issues; because the politicians are smart and they know that now, more than every before, people lack common sense, the desire and ability to understand abtractions, and the patience to listen to any message that lasts longer than a commercial break. And there’s not a whole heck of alot of reasoned discourse that you can do during a commercial break.
Well, that’s my stream of consciousness contribution to this discourse. My brain is fried. I’m taking finals and at the same time I’m having an emotional breakdown. Wish me luck.