Who or what is to blame

This is an expanded version of a post I recently added to my more family friendly, less controversial, blog, Classical Gasbag.

I’m pretty sure that I have written about this before, but I have to say again that between “reality” television , silly politicians, and social media sites such as Facebook, we have become a nation of worriers and haters. I have been thinking about this for some time now, and frankly it is depressing me. Let me briefly explain.

To my mind, this started back shortly before the turn of the century. While politics has often been the subject of lively debate, usually after an election the two major parties returned to their corners and went about trying to lead the country in productive ways. Did they argue? Sure. But the individual members also socialized with people from the other party. They often established homes in or around Washington, D.C. and sent their children to the same schools.

Newt Gingrich

A lot of that changed when Newt Gingrich became Speaker of The House of Representatives. He encouraged the Republican members of Congress to return to their home states and campaign every weekend. No more weekend socializing with the members of other political parties on weekends. Soon the members of both parties were living in echo chambers where they heard people who only had similar views.

Bill Clinton

Hillary Clinton

At the same time the Republicans were vilifying President Clinton, who certainly had personal faults, and his wife Hillary. She became, in the eyes of the country, as the opposite of the long-suffering, meek Pat Nixon type of first lady. She was damned if she was a strong, intelligent  woman, and dubbed a phony if she tried to appear in a more customary role.

Presidents are fair game for detractors when it comes to their policies and practices, but to go after a sitting President over his sexual peccadilloes hadn’t happened in at least a half century, and had never gone beyond the righteous indignation stage. It had cost Ted Kennedy an opportunity to be President, but that was because he saw the futility of a run. This time, however, it became the centerpiece of President Clinton’s impeachment hearing. Having the multi-adulterer Newt Gingrich lead the charge was probably a mistake by the Republicans. But it was their choice.

Somewhere in that time, political differences turned into political hatreds. Things got too personal. Decorum became a word, not an action. It wasn’t just Republicans; Democrats also jumped on board that train. Thankfully it stayed pretty much in the political sphere. Oh, and the Fox News Network was launched.

George W Bush

That is just background. George W. Bush is given the Presidency by the Supreme Court. The attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon occur. The nation goes into a lockdown mode. The nation, even most Democrats give President Bush the benefit of the doubt on most things, even removing some freedoms through the so-called Patriot Act. But that quickly ends.

Vice President Cheney is compared to Darth Vader. The administration cooks the books and claims that there are weapons of mass destruction waiting to be used by the Iraq government, so we invade. President Obama is elected and conservatives claim that he lied about where he was born. They say he is a Muslim (so?) while condemning the Christian church that he used to attend. Donald Trump wants to see his college transcripts after seeing the President’s birth certificate. And so it goes.

In the past we had politicians who disliked each other, and told you at length why they thought so little of each other. But it seems to me that they tried to cover that dislike with a veneer of gentility. We may have known that it was not true, but putting up that facade was a decent attempt to maintain a civilized approach to life. And now civility has flown.

On top of that, they try to instill fear in our society and build upon that fear to sew intolerance. And it is all to glorify themselves and to bring power to themselves.

Dr. Ben Carson

Donald Trump

Now we have Presidential aspirant Dr. Ben Carson stating that a person of the Islamic faith should not be allowed to be President. We have Donald Trump claiming that illegal immigrants from Mexico are rapists and murderers. He also wants to ban immigrants who are Muslims from entering the U.S. He makes disparaging remarks about women on a regular basis. He labels people he disagrees with as stupid or idiots or, worst of all, low-energy. And he gains followers on a daily basis. At least he hasn’t asked his followers to wear brown shirts…yet.

Why does this “reality” television personality get so much glory? Good question.

When was the last time you saw a normal person on a “reality” television show? Are your friends like the Housewives or the Survivors? If so, why are they your friends? No, those people on the shows are schemers and mean-spirited people who want to be famous. And yet they and their actions are glorified every week. They give us a false sense of worth and claim that it is reality. Some people think that it is reality rather than a distorted reflection in a muddy puddle. And  having that belief they expect no better of themselves, their families, and society. It is a low bar to rise above. And some of us emulate them.

We allow people on the Internet to comment, often anonymously, usually disparagingly on everything. We see this nastiness spill out almost everywhere. It is particularly bad in letters to on-line newspapers and Facebook. Why did this type of behavior become acceptable?

What does it say about our society when we raise up the crude and the hate mongers? I despair.

Now don’t get me started on driving habits in the U.S. since NASCAR became big on television.