Summary: This Monty Python skit perfectly captures the absurdity of our presidential debates, which seem designed to keep us uninformed (even stupid). Unfortunately they are the spectacles we want. {2nd of 2 posts today.}
“Editor: a person employed by a newspaper, whose business it is to separate the wheat from the chaff, and to see that the chaff is printed.”
— Elbert Hubbard (1914).
From Monty Python’s Flying Circus, 15 December 1970
The news is a product designed to attract the attention of the outer party (America’s managers and professionals), the large body of people interested in current events and with the income to either pay for it or to attract advertisers. They are politically impotent, divided amongst themselves and busy with the routine of their lives. They want simple stories of good guys and bad guys that provide entertainment and catharsis. Cheer our team! Thrill at tales of the bad guys’ dastardly deeds! See the certain doom that lies ahead!
So we are shown Campaign 2016 in terms of what hats vs. black hats, almost devoid of issues and political philosophies, devoid of any context in American history. In other words, as spectacle — emotion devoid of meaning. It’s what we want, so what we get.
Look at the transcripts of the Lincoln-Douglas debates to see how far we have fallen (also see Wikipedia). They are longer, more complex and sophisticated than the “debates” of today, which are largely candidates volleying sound-bites with journalists.
For More Information
Hat tip on this video to Paul Campos (Prof of Law at U CO-Boulder) in a post at Lawyer, Guns, and Money.
Please like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter. See all posts information & disinformation – new media & old, about journalism, about Campaign 2016, and especially these about our political debates…
- A reminder that debates are fun, not politics: Reagan had Alzheimer’s in 1984 and we didn’t notice.
- The presidential debates are performance art. They’re Kabuki.
Suggestions about getting a better view of the world: A time-saving tip when reading the daily news and Suggestions for your daily info diet. You are what you read! Also see Finding insights in the seas of information & misinformation.
