Singing Out of Toon

I haven’t cruised the Internet much in the 5 months since my last post. Recently, though, a confluence of energy and desire brought me back on line. I’m sure that a lot changed in the time I was away but one thing sticks out. Cartooning yourself has become a big thing.

While this seemed a case of life imitating art (those silly commercials from the investment firm whose name fails me), it took me only a few thoughts to realize that it could as easily be the reverse. In particular, our political life has become cartoonish.

I first noticed this in the media. Fox News and MSNBC play competing games of blame and distortion. Lately, however, many of our leaders have resorted to a cynical politics of caricature to gain and hold power. This makes the process of policymaking and legislation, difficult in the best of times, almost impossible and enshrines the status quo.

This is readily apparent in the debate of current health care bills in Congress. Republicans cast them as a “downright evil” “government takeover” with “death panels,” benefits for illegal aliens and an increase in abortion. Democrats characterize their opposition as a monolith of cold, unfeeling people whose health care plan is to either not get sick or die quickly if you do.

Politicians have always misrepresented and exaggerated their opponents’ positions. Today, however, the practice has scaled up by a factor of many. Each major party has created constituencies of prejudices, overstating differences of opinion as perilous threats.
They wouldn’t do it, though, if it didn’t work. We, the people, fuel this strategy and, in that, we get the politics we deserve.

I’m not asking anyone to abandon principles or ignore untruths. However, we do need to have arguments of policy honestly. That means listening to the other party and avoiding rhetorical fallacies and demagoguery. It also means calling out those who simplistically play to our biases and rewarding those who are sincere.

I am under no illusions that this will be easy. Progress will be a slow ripple in the pond. We will not agree on much at first. Incremental changes will be fragile. Yet, it is not only worth doing but something we must do for ourselves and our children. This was the promise of President Obama’s election. We can have leaders who achieve this vision but only if we have their backs.