Here’s Peggy Noonan’s prescription for defusing the ticking time bomb of American politics from her latest Wall Street Journal column:
Everyone running for office should admit things have gotten too hot, too divided. Then they should try to cool the atmosphere. Next Tuesday will mark one week before the election. Candidates should devote the day to something different. It would be good to see every one give a speech or statement containing their most generous definition of the aims and meaning of the opposing party. A Democratic nominee might say, “Whether they always succeed or not, Republicans do want to protect the liberties that have allowed this nation become the miracle of the world.†A Republican might say, “At its best and most sincere, the Democratic Party hopes to help those in peril, and to soften disparities of wealth and opportunity.â€
That’s a prescription I think has exactly zero likelihood of happening, particularly in an election year.
This is something I’ve been meaning to mention for some time but my personal firsthand experience of politicians in action is that presupposing that nothing they say is sincere is actually a pretty good first order approximation. Everything they say is said with one eye on the statement’s implications for getting votes.
But I also think that the downright hatred between those of the two major political parties is on the rises. Not only do I not think that Democrats and Republicans don’t think that those of the other party has the best interests of the people of the country at heart, I think that Republicans think that Democrats are crooks while Democrats think Republicans are only interested in seizing money away from the old, the sick, and the needy and giving it to the rich.
President Trump’s intemperate tweets or statements in speeches don’t help a bit.
That’s why my solution is not for Republicans to say nice things about Democrats and vice versa, Ms. Noonan’s prescription but to de-emphasize Washington, DC. Concentrating power in Washington just increases the heat. However, it is rare that, having tasted power, an individual is willing to relinquish it. That’s why we honor George Washington. And it’s also why my prescription is unlikely to be undertaken by the Powers-That-Be.
Something else that should be kept in mind: in a country of 330 million there will always be a few crazy people who take harsh words seriously and will act on it.
“This is something I’ve been meaning to mention for some time but my personal firsthand experience of politicians in action is that presupposing that nothing they say is sincere is actually a pretty good first order approximation. Everything they say is said with one eye on the statement’s implications for getting votes.”
Funny. I pointed that out in response to Susan Collins and was told I was disrespecting her. I think they are sincere sometimes, it is just hard to know when, so unless you know them well it is best to assume they are always acting as a politician first, worrying about votes or raising money.
In this current time where the emphasis is on getting to the vote, being nice isn’t going to get voters out. Making them angry seems to work better. Also, I have always thought that politics is a bit like sports in that people try to emulate the most recent winner. If the Bears win this year (LOL) with a world class pass rusher and an otherwise mediocre team, everyone else will pay out the bucks for the pass rusher, until the next Super Bowl when some other combo wins. Trump winning BECAUSE he was a total ass, not in spite of it, is leading others to try that tactic.
Steve
Not by me.
The pols will keep raising the heat until there is an explosion. We are reentering the 60’s/70’s era of extreme political violence, hundreds of bombings, murders, three high level assassinations… Can the descendants of Ayers and Dorne top that?
“in a country of 330 million there will always be a few crazy people who take harsh words seriously and will act on it.â€
Apparently so. However, the responsibility for their actions remains with them.
“President Trump’s intemperate tweets or statements in speeches don’t help a bit.â€
Certainly it does not help. As I was out and about yesterday I caught snippets from politicians, pundits and members of the fourth estate lecturing about the presidents “special duty†to be mercilessly pummeled, I guess. While the fourth estate, pundits, activists and pols like the minority leader of the senate or wannabe presidents are constrained by no such responsibility. That is a logic with which I am not familiar.
“….my solution…is…to de-emphasize Washington, DC. Concentrating power in Washington just increases the heat.â€
Gee, I wish I’d thought of that. The problem still remains with the courts though. Anyone who thinks Kavanaugh was about Ford or women’s rights is hopelessly lost. It was about power, power and power.
Many recent politicians have taken the advice of Saul Alinsky’s “Rules for Radicals” lately because they work. For winning elections, but not for governing a country. “Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.”
“Concentrating power in Washington just increases the heat. ”
Politics at the state level seems just as nasty.
Steve
Re: Politicians Lying
To get elected, a politician needs to convince over half the voters that he/she agrees somewhat with them, but many of the voters will have irreconcilable demands/requests. Almost all candidates who do not ‘shade the truth’ will never become politicians.
Re: Recent Political Rhetoric
How much is free speech, and how much is ‘yelling fire in the theater’.
I have no doubt that racists, anarchists, and crazies are emboldened by ‘heated political rhetoric’, but do we muzzle Rep. Maxine Waters because she emboldens some people to protest in a violent way? There are many ways to ‘let them know they are not welcome anymore, anywhere’. Is she responsible for someone who believes that violence is the best way to achieve this? Likewise, is President Trump?
No, No, Waters or Trump are not responsible, but any action by a supporter is political fodder for the continuing theatre. I just wonder sometimes if it even matters. In Maxine Waters district, she is the incumbent, and likely to be re-elected. From where I sit, she’s off the rails and couldn’t come close to winning here. Of course the D.’s will try to get traction from the “fake bomber”, but that won’t change any votes. What bugs me is how quickly he went from being a Native American in early new reports to a White Supremacist a few hours later. Media bias.
And NOW Pittsburgh has rendered that news story to the back pages.
I do not have an answer to my question.
I know that a group of angry protesters can turn into a mob fast, and I know that an individual can incite a mob to destructive or violent behavior.
If a person can embolden a person to act better, the opposite should be true. If a priest can change a person’s behavior by encouraging Christian acts, a Klan Wizard should be able to change a person’s behavior by encouraging racist behavior.
I do not think that President Trump is a racist, but I think, to him, a vote is a vote, racist or not.
On that, Tasty, you are right. to Trump, and remember I support him for now, a win is a win, no holds barred.