Em & I have been watching The West Wing again, which is such a fantastic show that it just seems better and better each time through (I think that we're on our 3rd time now)! The only problem with it is that it's hard not to look around and get a little - or a lot - disappointed with our actual political situation.
In particular I was wondering this morning where the powerful liberal voices are these days? You hear so much about Glen Beck, Sara Palin, and ilk, but who is speaking interestingly and passionately for the left???
I do like HuffPost - on social issues Arianna does a great job. But she still seems to have too much of her jet-setter past in tow to really stick it to the man. Ralph Nader has, rightly or wrongly, been swept under the mat. And if you head to the fringier side, like Pacifica, it quickly devolves into conspiracy theories and pro-marijuana rants.
So who is out there saying end this war - end all wars, give homosexuals the same rights as everyone else; that the environment is not going to get better on its own, and, critically, tax the rich - without hate, but without mercy?
Of course there are Dennis Kucinich and Al Franken. But as representatives, their influence is necessarily localized and limited. These men, and I would also include Barbara Boxer and Nancy Pelosi with them, are lions and God bless them all, but they aren't galvanizers.
What I would love to hear is a voice. As much as Rush Limbaugh deserves our infinite scorn, don't you just get a little bit jealous too?
4 comments:
First thoughts that jumped into my mind:
Conservatives are not plagued with the guilt that liberals have, so they don’t feel such a need to be ‘politically correct.’ They can therefore be a**holes without nearly the level of fear that liberals have. (They just have to keep reminding themselves not to use the n-word.) This is inherently funnier. And that to me is a big selling point for Rush, et al. Their radio ranting is broadly humorous. Liberals tend to lean toward satire, which is harder to pull off on the radio (as anybody who listened to Al Franken can attest). Satire just takes more concentration and that can be tricky when you’ve got the radio on at work.
TV is a better place for satire, which is why the Daily Show and the Colbert Report work. These are the liberal voices of our time. The problem with satire, however, is that it does a good job of skewering its target, and a bad job of offering an alternative, or a “Way Things Ought to Be.”
I like to read Slate (http://www.slate.com/), which is run by liberals who do a pretty good job of questioning the wisdom of traditional liberalism, and also of dissecting the political themes of pop culture. And of course it has Christopher Hitchens, with whom I frequently disagree, but who always makes me think and is just one of the best writers around.
The idea occurred that liberals are smarter than conservatives, and therefore don’t fall victim to the pandering that Dittoheads do. A few years ago I would have believed that. I spent much of my life believing that conservatives were heartless and/or dumb, till I actually met some and read some decent columnists (George Will, sometimes David Brooks). Now that thinking smacks to me of the liberal elitism that is alleged by every conservative commentator. And worse to me, it seems divisive. I don’t have much use these days for political discourse that doesn’t have room for some sort of compromise.
(Probably unrelated:
This was in the NY Times this week:
“Less than two years ago, Democrats received 70 percent of the donations from Wall Street; since June, when the financial regulation bill was nearing passage, Republicans were receiving 68 percent of the donations, according to an analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan research group.”
http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/31/sorkin-why-wall-st-is-deserting-obama/
I thought of the anarchist’s line from the Illuminatus Trilogy, something to the effect of “It doesn’t matter who’s in the White House, Wall Street still calls all the shots.”)
Eat the rich,
Eric
Man, so many great points!! I totally agree with you about many right wing pundits having the edge in humor mainly because of their lack of shame. I'm not sure that they're inherently funnier - mainly they just bore me (and Gary Trudeau on his worst day in 1977was funnier than all of them put together!) But overall I think you're right - guys like Rush Limbaugh (and Howard Stern) are maybe a little closer to many people's id and make better radio than Ralph Nader. Maybe that's why there are so many marijuana advocates on Pacifica - because it's kind of funny.
Also, I have to admit that I didn't think of John Stewart or Stephen Colbert, which is probably because we don't really have TV. But I think that you're totally right about the bigger point with them: they are both great at skewering the crazy hijinks of the right, but neither exactly presents an inspiring new world view.
I think that this is really my issue - that liberals have become so used to just dealing with the craziness of the right - from the denial of environmental concerns to the complete non-issues like this "mosque" in New York - that they haven’t really been able to present a riveting vision of what they’re FOR.
Of course, that presupposes that all liberals are for the same thing, which is pretty absurd. Legalizing dope isn’t my thing, but for some people (that I know) it’s THE issue, and I may be a little more pro-education than others for some reason. So what should the left be for? Hmmm – maybe another post…
Anyways, thanks for the Slate recommendation – I’m enjoying it, although I think that HuffPost is organized a little better – I guess you can’t have it all.
Finally, Hagbard Celine may have been right of course, but I’m still not that cynical – plus I don’t have the dough for a submarine, so what can you do?
Legalizing mj is THE issue? Patrick, you've been hanging out with Dan too much.
I agree with everything else you two are waxing about though. It's depressing how few liberals are voicing their opinions and ideas. Even the word liberal is considered BAD. I enjoy listening to Left Right and Center on Kcrw radio. One, because they give many different sides to an issue, and two because Robert Scheer, the left position, is so unashamedly liberal. Go Bob!!!
Amy
check out thom hartman. he's on the radio from 9 til noon. i've forgotten the station. i think its 1150. an articulate well read intellegent voice in the wilderness. he's written many books on many subjects, several on the current political scene. he is one of my heroes. check him out
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