Why I am so careful about language here.
Blasters Blog - Irritation Level Rising
I just watched a segment of Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace. Specifically the segment with Cece Connolly, Juan Williams, Brit Hume and Bill Kristol.
No transcript as of yet, but I was taken aback by the tenor of the discussion. Especially between Juan Williams and Brit Hume. Juan Williams can be a pain, but I have never heard him straw man arguments like he was in this segment.
<font size=4>
The basic gist of the argument was originally advanced by Bill Kristol. That being that the overarching importance of the War and its objectives are being critically undermined by the focus on the abuse scandals. Juan took that to mean that we are all okay with torture. After a back and forth, Brit stepped in.
In the middle of his sentence, Juan interrupted Brit, and badly distorted the point that Brit was not through making. Brit was visibly irritated, something I have never seen before. And then went on to make his point in a manner that made clear his irritation at Juan, and made his point crystal clear.
Wallace then jumped in and ended the segment, but you could see the two men glaring at each other. Something I have never seen.
I think, once again, that we are at another point at which the two major outlooks in the United States cannot seem to communicate. These have occurred during the Iran-Contra affair, the Clarence Thomas Hearing, Monica Lewinsky, the 2000 Presidential election, Iraq and now this.
Now I don't know if the situation has always been like this, but in my experience of being acutely aware in politics, which I can date to 1986, the animosity and bitterness between the two viewpoints seems to be getting much worse with time.
Now, I can imagine that there have been times of similar animosity. The American Civil War is an example of a major diversion in ideology that could not be reconciled. While I am not trying to say that this is analagous, I am going to say that no matter what happens in November with the Presidential election, there is a significant portion (30%) who is going to find the result very hard to take. And heaven help us if it is like 2000, with a heavily disputed result.
When 2000 happened, I was in South Africa, and I pointed out to my relatives who were giving me a hard time about the event that only one brick had been thrown through one window. If this happens again, I don't know if I will be able to say that.
Everyone sort of needs to take a breath and stand back. I go on the BBS's and the arguments are heated. At school, people don't even debate because of the level of animosity between differing opinions. This is not healthy. |
