I've been putting off writing in the effort to formulate a piece on the media, but Chelsea Manning's decision to run for the U.S. Senate in Maryland, reported in Sunday's Washington Post, prompted me to get back in the game. Maybe I'm getting a bit ahead of myself, because Ms. Manning has yet to file with the Maryland State Board of Elections, so this could be a non-story. Be that as it may, in seeing this article, I was reminded of a disturbing trend in American politics. I was also reminded of the guy who is digging a big hole for himself, hits rock bottom, looks up, and asks for a pick.
Who's the guy in the hole? It's the American voter.
For numerous, complex reasons (which is no excuse), we have increasingly permitted our politics to be conflated with entertainment. I'm not sure how this began, but I'm old enough to know it hasn't always been like this. Maybe it started with Bill Clinton, who was then the governor of Arkansas, playing saxophone on the Johnny Carson Show in 1988. (Reportedly, Carson had the right answer in response to the initial suggestion that Clinton appear, saying something to the effect that he had never had a politician on his show and he wasn't going to start now.) The appearance, according to later analysts, was credited with saving Clinton's career after he had made a poor speech at the Democratic National Convention earlier in the week. We got to see this cool guy that could play an instrument and, heck, he was just like the rest of us, so why not vote for him?
I know at this point I sound like one of those old curmudgeons up in the balcony on the Muppet Show. Let me dispel any questions or illusions that you may have in this regard. I am one of those old curmudgeons up in the balcony on the Muppet Show. Now that we're past that, allow me to suggest that our mingling of popular culture and politics is a harmful phenomenon that has had nothing but negative consequences.
The fact of the matter is that our elected representatives are not "just like everyone else" and we should not think of them or accept them as anything but dedicated public servants. They should be driven to serve the people, to make our lives better. They are not here to entertain us. If I want to hear the saxophone, I'll put on Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, or Stan Getz. What we need in elected officials are people who work to promote the common good and policies that improve the lives of the greatest number of Americans. Those folks need to know what they're doing, not put on a show. Our comingling of politics and entertainment leads us to tolerate politicians who don't know how to, or simply don't care to, act in the public interest. Guess who gets the short end of the stick in that case? We do.
This brings me to Ms. Manning. By what scope of the imagination is she a qualified candidate for the United States Senate, one of two positions that represents the six millions residents of the State of Maryland to the rest of the country? Let's leave aside for a moment that Ms. Manning is a polarizing figure who was convicted of espionage by a military court. (I know that's a very big thing to leave aside, but please bear with me.) I read in the Post that Ms. Manning, after her release from prison, has written for the Guardian and Medium on several issues of social import. Is that a qualification to run for the United States Senate? I hardly think so. If Ms. Manning wants to get involved in politics, good for her. She can start where she lives, by running for a seat on the Montgomery County Council or the School Board of Montgomery County Public Schools. (This is no small thing. Montgomery County, Maryland, is the wealthiest county in America's wealthiest state. Of its residents above the age of 25, 91% have graduated high school and 57% have bachelor's degrees or higher.) Let her distinguish herself as a dedicated public servant at the local level first.
The Senate run appears to be nothing more than a cheap publicity stunt. In the same Post article, a professor of political science at a local university noted: "My initial thought quite literally was, 'Donald Trump is president, Oprah Winfrey is the leading contender for Democrats in 2020, why the hell not Chelsea Manning in the U.S. Senate?" Yet, that's just my point. Haven't we already had our fill of mediocrity, of people who will say anything or do anything to get a vote? Where has our leadership gone? Why not Louis C.K for Congress? Why not Iain Armitage, of Young Sheldon, for Supreme Court Justice? Why not Bonzo the Chimp for any elected office? Is that what we deserve?
This buffoonery has got to stop. Guess who needs to stop it? We do. How? By exercising our right to vote and by holding political candidates and our elected officials to a high bar. How to go about doing this is a longer discussion, but for the moment allow me to offer one observation that you may consider: Watch out for anyone who says they're going to get into office and clean up the mess. Things are as they are for a reason and righting the ship is a hard process that takes a lot of effort and a lot of well-thought-out policy decisions and planning. Any charlatan who blithely says he's going to fix everything just by stepping in the door is the same guy that doesn't know what's going on and has no idea how things work. He's not going to fix anything.
About now you may be saying, this may not even be an issue in a few days. It's just one of those things we get bombarded with day in and day out that's ephemeral, fleeting, and of no value in the broader scheme of things. You may be right, but it was on the front page, above the fold, of the Metro Section, just below an important article on the possibility that drones may be able to breach the Washington, DC, metro area's airspace. That leads us to the role of the media in American life, which I will leave until next time.
Your comments and suggestions are always welcome.
Who's the guy in the hole? It's the American voter.
For numerous, complex reasons (which is no excuse), we have increasingly permitted our politics to be conflated with entertainment. I'm not sure how this began, but I'm old enough to know it hasn't always been like this. Maybe it started with Bill Clinton, who was then the governor of Arkansas, playing saxophone on the Johnny Carson Show in 1988. (Reportedly, Carson had the right answer in response to the initial suggestion that Clinton appear, saying something to the effect that he had never had a politician on his show and he wasn't going to start now.) The appearance, according to later analysts, was credited with saving Clinton's career after he had made a poor speech at the Democratic National Convention earlier in the week. We got to see this cool guy that could play an instrument and, heck, he was just like the rest of us, so why not vote for him?
I know at this point I sound like one of those old curmudgeons up in the balcony on the Muppet Show. Let me dispel any questions or illusions that you may have in this regard. I am one of those old curmudgeons up in the balcony on the Muppet Show. Now that we're past that, allow me to suggest that our mingling of popular culture and politics is a harmful phenomenon that has had nothing but negative consequences.
The fact of the matter is that our elected representatives are not "just like everyone else" and we should not think of them or accept them as anything but dedicated public servants. They should be driven to serve the people, to make our lives better. They are not here to entertain us. If I want to hear the saxophone, I'll put on Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, or Stan Getz. What we need in elected officials are people who work to promote the common good and policies that improve the lives of the greatest number of Americans. Those folks need to know what they're doing, not put on a show. Our comingling of politics and entertainment leads us to tolerate politicians who don't know how to, or simply don't care to, act in the public interest. Guess who gets the short end of the stick in that case? We do.
This brings me to Ms. Manning. By what scope of the imagination is she a qualified candidate for the United States Senate, one of two positions that represents the six millions residents of the State of Maryland to the rest of the country? Let's leave aside for a moment that Ms. Manning is a polarizing figure who was convicted of espionage by a military court. (I know that's a very big thing to leave aside, but please bear with me.) I read in the Post that Ms. Manning, after her release from prison, has written for the Guardian and Medium on several issues of social import. Is that a qualification to run for the United States Senate? I hardly think so. If Ms. Manning wants to get involved in politics, good for her. She can start where she lives, by running for a seat on the Montgomery County Council or the School Board of Montgomery County Public Schools. (This is no small thing. Montgomery County, Maryland, is the wealthiest county in America's wealthiest state. Of its residents above the age of 25, 91% have graduated high school and 57% have bachelor's degrees or higher.) Let her distinguish herself as a dedicated public servant at the local level first.
The Senate run appears to be nothing more than a cheap publicity stunt. In the same Post article, a professor of political science at a local university noted: "My initial thought quite literally was, 'Donald Trump is president, Oprah Winfrey is the leading contender for Democrats in 2020, why the hell not Chelsea Manning in the U.S. Senate?" Yet, that's just my point. Haven't we already had our fill of mediocrity, of people who will say anything or do anything to get a vote? Where has our leadership gone? Why not Louis C.K for Congress? Why not Iain Armitage, of Young Sheldon, for Supreme Court Justice? Why not Bonzo the Chimp for any elected office? Is that what we deserve?
This buffoonery has got to stop. Guess who needs to stop it? We do. How? By exercising our right to vote and by holding political candidates and our elected officials to a high bar. How to go about doing this is a longer discussion, but for the moment allow me to offer one observation that you may consider: Watch out for anyone who says they're going to get into office and clean up the mess. Things are as they are for a reason and righting the ship is a hard process that takes a lot of effort and a lot of well-thought-out policy decisions and planning. Any charlatan who blithely says he's going to fix everything just by stepping in the door is the same guy that doesn't know what's going on and has no idea how things work. He's not going to fix anything.
About now you may be saying, this may not even be an issue in a few days. It's just one of those things we get bombarded with day in and day out that's ephemeral, fleeting, and of no value in the broader scheme of things. You may be right, but it was on the front page, above the fold, of the Metro Section, just below an important article on the possibility that drones may be able to breach the Washington, DC, metro area's airspace. That leads us to the role of the media in American life, which I will leave until next time.
Your comments and suggestions are always welcome.
Spot on, Robert! "buffoonery"....I've used a form of this word for about a year now. Thank you for getting back in the game.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Gail. I do believe it is a very useful word in the context of current politics. I promise to post again soon. Thank you very much for giving my blog a read and for your input.
DeleteI agree. Obama came across as a "cool guy" too, and that is, unfortunately, one of the reasons he got to become President. There are too many voters that don't keep up with why things are the way they are and don't know who to vote for so they go with who is cool or "seems like a nice person".
ReplyDeleteGood morning, Heidi. I believe you are absolutely correct. I am, moreover, flummoxed by the current strain of opinion declaring President Obama to be one of greatest presidents ever. The ship didn't do much more than sit in port during his two terms. Admittedly there are reasons for this (notably congressional obstruction) and "sitting in port" is not the worst thing that can happen during a presidential administration. In my book, however, he (and his wife) are very much overrated.
DeleteThank you for your comments.
DeleteI wonder whether the old expression "barking up the wrong tree" referred to tree bark or an old hound. Entertainment has its proper place in politics and governance. Exclusion has no place in either governance or politics. When people get elected whose experience is mainly private jets and fancy hotels, the electorate is barking up the wrong tree.
ReplyDelete