America's Idiotic Political Debates (The Nation)

[marmar]

article | posted May 4, 2007 (web only)
America's Idiotic Political Debates

Nicholas von Hoffman


Presidential debates get more intolerable with each passing quadrennium. A new low was reached Thursday when minder/moderator Chris Matthews asked the ten aspirants to the Republican presidential nomination to raise their hands if they did not believe in evolution. Three of the ten not very prepossessing men stuck their hands up in the approved kindergarten style.

In real kindergartens, as opposed to the political debate variety, the children are encouraged to interact with one another, but the candidates taking part in this one were admonished to speak only to the teacher. The ninety-minute affair bore a resemblance to a pop quiz, although they are not usually given to preschoolers.

The night previous to the Republican do, the French had a political debate between presidential candidates. What a contrast. The debate, every minute of which was televised, lasted two and a half hours and was conducted without the doubtful ministrations of some media news personality asking questions. Back and forth the two French candidates went like grown-ups disputing. The 1858 debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas on the question of slavery and the future of the union went on for hours.

What passes for a political debate in the United States today is little more than dueling sound bites. The Republican candidates were restricted to sixty-second answers to the questions put to them. Such time limitations are the rule in American debating and give rise to the suspicion that these politicians are unable to discuss a topic at a greater length than 100 words. After that they apparently run out of material. They are programmed for short bursts and little more.

...(snip)...

The level of public discourse in the United States is of such inferior quality it is closer to advertising copy than human speech. But maybe human speech and the clash of ideas and emotion are not necessary.

If you go back to the time of H.L. Mencken or Mark Twain, the educated classes also complained that American politicians were divided into two classes, vapid windbags and screeching baboons. Yet the country prospered. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070521/von_hoffman

[tabasco]

1. Very good points. Thanks for posting.

I wish the American electorate was better informed. We have a HUGE problem with the corporate-controlled media. We always get the CORPORATE point of view.

[papau]

2. I agree with your points - and thanks for posting - corporate monopoly of the air is destroying

Democracy.