Our political Quote of the Day comes from The Daily Beast’s Howard Kurtz who sadly details all too well the return of “trash talk” to our politics after a brief cease-fire of a week due to the Boston Marathon bombings. Actually, some trash talk returned sooner as detailed by columnist Dick Polman but the political septic tank has returned to its usual overflowing status in recent days. Here’s his quote at the end where Kurtz nails it:
It’s not that these questions—from gun control to suspects’ rights, from terrorism to profiling—aren’t legitimate issues for debate. And a degree of passion in our politics is healthy.
But the subtext here is that many commentators and officeholders need targets. If bad things are happening in the world, there must be someone to blame, someone whose malevolence or idiocy must be called out. Feuds and finger-pointing play well on cable.
Such a divisive approach fits nicely into the hyperpartisan atmosphere that permeates both politics and media these days. Many Fox viewers cheer when their hosts and panelists rip the liberal loons who are ruining this country, including the left-wing media. Much of the MSNBC audience applauds when that network goes after the right-wing troglodytes who would trample the Constitution. And candidates are practiced at hitting the hot buttons that fire up their base.
It’s a great way to seize attention and raise money. But a week after Boston, it all feels depressingly familiar.
May I say “Ditto”?
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.