: Dean’s changing status….July 10, 2003
Ann Coulter is NOT to blame…
The degradation of our civic discourse is not Ann Coulter’s fault. Nor is it the fault of others like her from (simplistically) both sides of the political spectrum. No, the fault lies with so-called mainstream news organizations that treat these flame throwers as if they were public intellectuals. Ann Coulter and those like her are doing exactly what they should be doing: making a buck on the gullibility of far too many citizens–that gullibility made possible in part by the lack of discernment of our free press. (via PoliPundit)
Posted by acline | July 10, 2003 | Posted in: Main | Comments (8)
Amen.
Rebecca beat me to it. Amen, and well said. If morons were simply ignored they would go away, eventually. The more you make them into stars the more they will preen.
The problem is they’re entertaining
No I completely disagree. Just because you “can” do something does not me you should. So if you can cheat old women out of their money for medicine in a “legal” way then that’s okay? I think not. Every citizen of a democracy has a responsibility, and I think that responsibility includes not preying on those weaker, less intelligent, less wealthy, less centered… I think it’s utterly disgusting what they do. And while I agree that they are not only to blame and not the route cause, I completely disagree with the notion that they are doing what they “should” do… at least not in a democracy… if that’s what we’re still aiming at as a society… perhaps we’re not.
I do not mean “should” in the sense of “ought.” Rather, I mean “should” in the sense of what a creature should do by its nature.
I agree with you, Alexander, that Ann Coulter et. al. ought not prey upon American civil discourse as they do. But they are not totally at fault. Without a medium, these entertainers have no way to practice that which they ought not do.
So, in this case, I’m saying Time magazine (the link) is doing more to harm civil discourse than Ann Coulter because, by interviewing her, they legitimize her poison. As a political harridan, she’s simply taking advantage of Time’s lack of discernment…something she “should” do as a political harridan.
You’re right, Andrew, they are entertaining! But not in a good way.
I started following the cable pundits shortly before Operation Iraqi Freedom started. I had been debating the issues with a conservative friend who listens to a good deal of talk-radio. I watched (and listened) because I really wanted to hear their arguments, to give them a fair shake. It became an obsessive compulsion to watch more and more — searching in vain for a persuasive argument. I wanted to tell my friend “Yes, I CAN connect the dots now”.
Then the world watched in horror as MSNBC displayed a countdown timer for the White House war deadline (http://tempe.net/shared/countdownToWar.jpg). When their Times Square sized counter reached zero, Lester Holt came on and told America with a straight face that Operation Iraqi Freedom had started.
By now I was livid with cynicism and laughed out loud at the sheer lunacy of the coverage. The pundits were breathless cutting in-and-out of fuzzy pictures provided by a new form of web-cam journalism, uploading in real-time with their sat-phones. Didn’t we all expect to see the Verizon guy jump out from behind a Bradley Fighting Vehicle: “Can you see me now”?.
I found that while I couldn’t disagree more with just about everything they were saying, they were genuinely entertaining. Unfortunately, I hold a perverse, cynically ironic sense of humor. While I was amused at the pundits playing it straight, I’m sure at least some viewers were taking them at face value.
Even more entertaining is Jon Stewart on “The Daily Show” — a fake pundit that speaks the truth more often than the real ones.
JSteele…when I use “entertaining” on Rhetorica in connection with the press, I’m usually using it pejorative. And I’m a fan of The Daily Show, too. Stewart’s spoof of sat-phone coverage was a scream!
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