CNN's painfully impartial host of "State of the Union," Candy Crowley, asked her opposing guests last Sunday, Was the "Shirley Sherrod incident" a political lesson or a lesson about race?
This irreducible question seemed a lesson itself. It was far from being one of the worst offenders, but its simple polarity in relation to such a complex issue did strike me at the moment as rather odd: OK, guests, this is television, a medium in which preposterous simplicity thrives, so choose A or B, take left or right, line up according to whatever prejudices my producers carefully prescreened and, if you wouldn't mind terribly much, please just pound away at each other for a while.
Ms. Crowley could have asked, Was the Sherrod incident a political lesson, a race lesson, a socioeconomic lesson, a lesson about gender, as well as lessons deeply rooted in sociopolitical psychology, mass psychosis, technological entertainment (see preceding condition) and the demise of professional journalism? -- for starters?
But, for television's purposes, not to mention talk radio's and the neatly, ideologically divided blogosphere's, better to keep the question on strictly a responsive A or B basis -- answers easily consumed and digested. We wouldn't want to complicate the matter, because that would only serve to de-intensify the emotions swirling around it, and that's bad for ratings and page views.
Emotions, ratings and page views. For the right, these have subsumed its erstwhile goal of achieving some inane sort of Gilded-Age Leave-It-to-Beaver social concoction; for the left they've subsumed the virtuous goal of what once was called social justice.
Nothing, absolutely nothing is now more important than stirring the passions of one's ideological base and thus reaping their financial rewards, if for no other reason, to carry on the ideological fight. Politico's John Harris and Jim VandeHei have called this, quite aptly, "The Age of Rage": "there are two big incentives that drive behavior at the intersection where politics meets media. One is public attention. The other is money. Experience shows there’s a lot more of both to be had by engaging in extreme partisan behavior."
It's no mystery why the right is winning the media race; and in a larger context, why political conservatism in general has always tugged with a decided preponderance at the American electorate's heart. For all the left's brooding about proper messaging and clever framing, the right can kick back and smile, because its primal "frame" is profitably centered in human nature's basest instinct: pure self-interest.
It's the ultimate A or B argument, perfect for every political occasion. Shirley Sherrod? Who cares what the subsequently exposed facts are? That typically liberal woman cost you your farm, your home, your job, your future. The story's belated corrections miss the truest mark, since the initial impression of victimization is what lingers in the narrow, emotional, self-interested mind.
And the right knows it. Correct their disinformation with a forceful counterpunch? Be their guest. You'll be politically dead before they hit the floor.
Some on the left will incisively object: But, but, but ... genuine self-interest also entails the greater interests of the larger community. Oh you poor things; that sort of argument demands abundant analysis, and most voters have neither the time nor inclination for vast philosophical seminars. They're complex.
Yet the right awaits, with its easy and simplistic answers to whatever ails us -- and to that let us add, its uncanny artistry of strategic agitprop. As fugitive conservative David Frum wrote: "By the morning of July 21, the Fox & Friends morning show could devote a segment to the Sherrod case without so much as a mention of Breitbart’s role. The central fact of the Sherrod story has been edited out of the conservative narrative.... When people talk of the 'closing of the conservative mind' this is what they mean: not that conservatives are more narrow-minded than other people -- everybody can be narrow minded -- but that conservatives have a unique capacity to ignore unwelcome fact."
And why not? Hell, it works. But whoa, David, let's not get too carried away with that "unique capacity" business. Throughout the last 18 months I've been depressingly stunned by the left's transcendent capacity to ignore whole passels of unwelcome facts, namely its relative electoral disadvantages and President Obama's thundering constraints. The "movement" left prefers a triumphalist narrative instead and, it seems, a chief executive of boundless power -- a virtual dictator, as long as he or she has passed the proper ideological tests.
This Friday as you know will hold my last column on BuzzFlash, because of the latter's melding into Truthout.org, but with my last scribbling breath I'll insist -- although likely to no avail -- that the movement left start appreciating the rather simple concept of unwelcome complexities.
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an OP-ED i once wrote,
Our governance's system of checks and balances is of Roman origin, such is the assertion by Cullen Murphy in his book Are We Rome?.
Murphy claims the Founding Fathers found in the pre-imperial Roman Republic a model for the way the young nation would govern itself. He then explains that Ben Franklin's quip, when asked as he was leaving Independence Hall what kind of government the US now had–"A republic, if you can keep it"–signified a cautionary reference to the fact that Rome itself could not, eventually mutating into an oppressive empire.
Murphy notes how checks and balances were taken to such an extreme by Rome that "if both consuls were leading troops into battle, each took charge on alternate days," a procedure that not only led to defeats in battles but also an ineffective government. Robert Pike concurs: "The constitution of the Roman Republic failed to change from its archaic formula of layered structures. These paralyzed each other with vetoes, all of which impeded state business."
While not advocating the abolition of our system, nevertheless I see a great danger looming: We’re presently facing a multitude of urgent issues, each needing lucid debate, quick resolutions and speedy implementation, yet we've become of late a polarized and rigid mess. So, what is a republic to do? Are we doomed to repeat Rome's failure?
I suggest there is a way out of the impasse. First, we must reflect on the term res publica from which republic is derived, Latin for the public matter, translated by the English as commonwealth (the common good): I find this later term most evocative and inspiring: It can nudge our mired discourse into affirmative and ennobling directions. Second, I offer Pragmatism, a way of thinking that can free us from ideological squabbles and abstract arguments by leading us to its core question: what works? In the long term, I might add.
Murphy ends thus: “Improvement is possible. Improvement, in fact, is the point,” implying that America is a work in progress or not at all.
said it BEST
i take the liberty to repost the best comment on this thread.
IMSLOAN said,
"... Of course they have the right to post what they want, but there is an intellectualy bullying going on here, along with the delusion that only following one line of logic over and over again somehow endows you with more critical acumen instead of less.
"Sometimes I agree with PM and other columnists, sometimes not, but I'd rather read an intelligent essay that these increasingly tiresome tantrums that pass for commentary."
True the BEST irrelevant ad hominem mud slinging on this thread
If you don't want to read "increasinglly tiresome tantrums that pass for commentary", then I suggest you stop posting them.
mudslinging non sequiturs
Oh, and um, I'll post whatever I please, thank you.
MERE ANARCHY
YATES nailed the ongoing sentiment:
TURNING and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity
Let us know when you figure out what it means
A poet by proxy you are not.
is that like--clever?`
Why dont you take you deragnement syndome over to the Huffington Post? Your comment above is nonsensical moronic gibberish, pigbowden. again, you are deluded in your presumtions
see, THAT is your problem:
see, THAT is your problem: NO DEPTH.
just shallow sentiment. intense, yes, but THIN...
I see you are beginning to enjoy this...
... a bit too much for my taste.
And I see the CAPS are back, nice touch. The only thing I would say is that I don't need to steal others' words to make a point. Good luck in your search for peace--I've got a feeling you're going to need it.
Way of peas, still devoid of original, rational thought
Wayofpeas,
That Yates piece is as depressing as Carpy's 'give up, we have no hope' mythical sentiment, which is really Carpy's and your sentiment.
You and Carpy should open up a Suicide Enabler Hotline for the Blue Dogs.
Better hurry! There may not be many of them left after Election Day in November!
Why dont you and your pigbow just bugger off then?
and respect that some people want to read authors you hate (you f--k-ng moron)
it is not DEPRESSING.it is
it is not DEPRESSING.
it is about the DILEMMA we face.
HOPE is not wishful thinking.
it is facing reality AS IS. not as we wish it would be. which is just plain childish.
Carpy has tried to take the wind out of our sail since day 1
He repeatedly posts depressing "there is no hope for Progressive Democrats" comments similar to your Yeats poem.
Sure wish he would finally go on that long drive he's been meaning to take... in his garage. Wanna ride?
here's what CARPY has been
here's what CARPY has been trying to get across to the WISHFUL THINKING radicals; a message they DO NOT want to hear:
In 2009, 40% percent of respondents in Gallup surveys that have interviewed more than 160,000 Americans have said that they are either “conservative” (31%) or “very conservative” (9%). That is the highest percentage in any year since 2004.
Only 21% have told Gallup they are liberal, including 16% who say they are “liberal” and 5% who say they are “very liberal.”
Thirty-five percent of Americans say they are moderate.
Yeah, this country is so conservative...
...that we have 59 democratic senators, a democratic president and huge democratic majorities in the House. So what is the point of your poll exactly?
And WTF is with the CAPS about every 4th WORD? I hear there are reading and writing comprehension classes on how to properly place emphasis--how about looking into them.
oh, BOWDEN, i am glad i can
oh, BOWDEN, i am glad i can ANNOY you as much as your RANTS have me.
SEE, if you think having 59 DEMS alone seals the deal in getting A PROGRESSIVE AGENDA PASSED thru the senate makes you A WISHFUL-THINKING 'radical'.
what about MARY, KATE, NELSON, etc, etc. ?
You don't annoy me whatsoever, Bluedog
...except to the extent that you are part of the problem. Arguing with a bluedog knucklehead like you, WOP, is like brushing off an intellectual flea.
What about filibuster reform? Reconcilliation? Real leadership from the White House? If Obama wasn't getting his ass waxed in the messaging war, he and Harry might be able to pull a repug into the Yes column every so often while also holding on to the bluedogs you reference.
But no.
What we have instead are whiny, petulant excuses from overgrown babies like yourself who'd rather makes excuses for failure.
Fine. To each his own.
BLUEDOG?you know nothing
BLUEDOG?
you know nothing about me.
i've been working for progressive / liberal causes since my freshman year in college in '66, was a member of SDS, and worked for the BOBBY campaign.
so in 44+ plus years i have learned some things, and one of them is that REAL CHANGE takes TIME and PATIENCE and HOPE and COMPROMISE: all very dirty words to those who think RANTING is all it takes.
which is why i find myself mostly in agreement with the IDEALISTIC PRAGMATISM of CARP: it seems tlike the best way to go.
and, by the way, when not blogging, i am involved (hands-on) in my community, MAKING THINGS HAPPEN at the local level.
THAT is where i invest my PROGRESSIVE fuel.
If it throws Progressives under the bus like a Blue Dog...
And it talks all "hopey changey" while voting like a Republican, it must be a Blue Dog DINO!
By the way, you're out of fuel.
you talk all matirix-y transgresive-y
Till you realize your gas has been stolen
Congratulations!
My, aren't we impressive. No, I know nothing about you, but I know all I need to know. I know you don't like what I write or the way I write, and instead of attacking my arguments, you chose to make it personal. You've been seething all these last weeks over my posts apparently but were too gutless to do anything about it by countering my argument with intellect.
I don't give a shit what you've been doing for 44 years. I might respect it if I respected your approach to me personally, but apparently you haven't learned a little thing called TACT in all your years on this earth. I've given Carp hell in his time here but I've never been disrespectful to a commenter--unless they were disrespectful to me first.
On an ordinary day i suspect we might have a good deal in common. Today is not one of those days. I don't wish you any ill will. In a couple of days you won't have to silently seethe over my posts any longer. And perhaps then you can practice what you preach.
Congratulations, Pigbow!
You have proven you are totally bat-shit nuts..
Are you nuts or something?
Are you nuts or something? We have a Democrat serving as president, a large Democratic Senate, a huge majority in the House and yet can't seem to pass any of the legislation that Obama ran on. If you can't see anything wrong with this picture, you're not just an annoyance to others, you're just plain f---ing stupid.
you have no inkling as to
you have no inkling as to how CHANGE is accomplished within the SYSTEM we got.
check the historical record. THAT will give you a TRUE insight. .
the other way is to get a CHAVEZ. that is the alternative.
A good word, "inkling"
A better descrption of your understanding of politics I cannot conceive. Inkle away...
i would suggest you move
i would suggest you move from INKLING to KNOWLEDGE by reading how major PROGRESSIVE legislation was passed within our system.
I would suggest you wake up from your Blue Dog wet dream
What progressive legislation?
The center right is not the left.
STRETCH YOURSELF, you can do it.
THINK historically: The Civil Rights Act of 1964... those!
A stretch is right! That was two generations ago!
Are any of them still alive after 46 years???
I can tell you really practice a lot of "stretching" yourself!
But in today's 2010 Congress, we have collusion between the far right REpublicans and the center right Blue Dog DINOs, whom Carpy supports (Apparently, so do you) over true left leaning Progressive Democrats!
ATTENTION DEFICIT
i can see that you are incapbale of pursuing a subject all the way thru.
ATTENTION DEFICIT?
no wonder
there are so many comments. you didn't quit; the community fired you.
i find it curious that the
i find it curious that the consistent posters of negative comments on PM's columns are just these two:
Schmidt S... AND pgbowden, who make it sound like the whole readership opposes him.
ironically a bit like the FAUX noise machine: say it LOUD, say it OFTEN and THAT make it TRUE.
The Knitting Circle that is P.M. Carpenter
Actually, it appears more likely than not that P.M. Carpenter is working as a shill for Rove. I wouldn't be at all surprised to learn that he was working as a shill for the DNC, wherein he attempts to distract progressives with anally-reflexive arguments--not in this article necessarily, but in many others--that typically point back to the two-party system, which he seems to strongly endorse.
The important thing is that Mr. Carpenter reliably delivers distractions and, much like Rahm Emanuel/Obama, has no use for the left. Buzzflash, in that it does much of the same though with much more subtlety, can be described as similarly guilty. But then, David Sirota also pointed that out recently, though therein he referred to most progressive groups as fronts for the Democratic Party/DNC, not specifically Buzzflash.
It's significant, because in the wake of all these distractions, we're more than likely to wind up with Sarah Palin or someone like her as president, and they will be given the nuclear access codes. We'll feel self-righteous, indignant and victimized--so what else is new--and Buzzflash/Truthdig/the Huff will continue to post their daily scandal sheets.
Nothing will change except that instead of global warming, we will first enjoy an entirely preventable nuclear winter. It would be preventable, of course, but only if the progressive websites stop distracting us with the likes of P.M. Carpenter and get on with the business of envisioning solutions well-beyond the two-party system.
I find your ad hominem slur absurd and irrelevant
Wayofpeas,
What makes our comments true is the fact that they really are true! The fact that we posted them does not diminish their validity.
Where is your counter argument in support of Carpy, besides nowhere? Too bad you fail to use your brain and instead resort to juvenile mud slinging.
How ironic that your handle, wayofpeace, is anything but that, and more like false advertising for a coward who is ashamed to post his or her real name.
Get back to us when you actually have something intelligent to say, even if it is off topic, again.
Meanwhile, your comment does nothing to discredit either of us, but instead, completely discredits yourself!
No wonder you are too ashamed to post your real name!
You must not make it around here much
If it sounds like almost the entire readership of Buzzflash opposes Carp's usual "argument," that's because most of the time they do. Are you blind? I, for one, try to lay out intellectually-supported reasons why I oppose them, not engage in childish non-arguments of the type you just posted. I'm not going to miss Carp, and honestly, I won't miss many of his bone-headed supporters either.
Happy reading...
..and they just say the same thing over and over..
That the whole world is a well-orchestrated plan where every elected official is getting marching orders from some shadowy one-world govt. and the rest of us are just dupes, Obamabots who are dumb enough to be taken in by shallow propaganda that only they can seem to see through..
Of course they have the right to post what they want, but there is an intellectualy bullying going on here, along with the delusion that only following one line of logic over and over again somehow endows you with more critical acumen instead of less.
Sometimes I agree with PM and other columnists, sometimes not, but I'd rather read an intelligent essay that these increasingly tiresome tantrums that pass for commntary