For well over a year now, you’ve been listening to speeches by Hillary, speeches by Barak, speeches by John and Mitt and Rudy and the other presidential hopefuls. You have also heard political analyses and commentaries by Katie, Wolf, Sean, Anderson, Glen, David, James, and the other talking heads. After each primary, you have been told how every describable demographic group voted: white males 45 and over, black females 18-40, Latino factory workers, young immigrants, black white collar workers, etc. You are told what Hillary said about Barak last night, how Barak reacted to that, and how Hillary reacted to Baraks’ reaction. Whatever news channel you choose, you can’t escape; it is as if there is no other news.
Had enough? Then here’s what you do: Go to the window of your house or apartment, throw it open, and shout to the world, “I’m fed up, and I’m not going to take it any more!”
This is not a tirade against political discourse, which, after all, lies at the core of our democratic system. But it is an indictment of chatter so inane, so repetitive, and so insulting to our intelligence as to drive us all to tune out.
Unless you have been living in a lead mine for the past year, you now know the leading candidates’ positions on taxes, health care, Iraq, the deficit, global trade, and global warming. What is left to know? Ah, there is always more, as long as TV channels compete for ratings. There is the issue of Barak’s wife, a putative loose cannon. There is the issue of Bill “ First Man” Clinton, prowling around the White House in search of interns. There is the issue of whether John McCain is already planning his invasion of Iran. They are all reasonable subjects for discussion, but don’t expect any answers from CNN or CBS or Fox, only questions.
You may or may not want to go the window and pull a Peter Finch, but you could decide to switch the channel whenever the subject of the 2008 presidential election comes up. Go to the Food Channel, or Turner Classic Movies, or the History Channel. The Weather Channel is running a great series called “When Weather Changed History.” There are other channels where you’ll be safe from talk about Barak and Hillary and John.
The ultimate rebellion, of course, is to withhold one’s vote for either presidential candidate. This sounds like an extreme, even unpatriotic position, but it is the correct position for anyone who cannot in conscience support either major presidential candidate. “None of the above” will probably appeal to more than a few voters this November.
