Alan's Babble - 11/2004

Random Mutterings, November 2004

Random muttering #1 (November 12, 2004)
Today at TGIF I got in an argument with another grad who happens to be from Ohio and who voted for Bush. He was talking about how Jon Stewart used to be funny, but became the root of all evil once he made clear that he was a vocal supporter of Kerry. He found Stewart's actions of CNN's Crossfire to be hypocritical because Stewart attacked the Crossfire talking heads (from now on, CTH) for being blatantly partisan. His claim was that Stewart should be put to the same level of journalistic integrity as the CTH. He then made the assertion that Crossfire doesn't need to be fair and balanced with issues, and that its current format of left- and right-wing punditry is just fine.

I took several issues with all this. It should go without saying that Crossfire and The Daily Show are on "The Cable News Network" and "Comedy Central," respectively. Why should Stewart have to pander to Bush, a president he neither supports nor respects? I can only conclude that in his mind, either he elevates The Daily Show to a higher level of journalism, or he sees Crossfire as no less a vehicle of entertainment. I'm sure if I pressed the issue next time he'll give me some third answer (which in my admittedly biased heart I expect will be equally absurd). Maybe he sees Jon Stewart as an enemy of the right, much like I see Bill O'Reilly as [a flaming jagbag but also] an enemy of the left. Except one seriously has total disregard for opposing points of view yet belongs to a purported "fair and balanced" news network. The other does a parody of the news because in our absurd world, the news just begs to be parodied.

Ironically, our argument never got anywhere because it devolved into more or less shouting at each other instead of having an actual debate, in much the same way Crossfire's "debates" of political issues become nothing more than a vehicle for punditry. This despite the fact that the dude and I get along well in all other respects. I came from this experience with these observations:

People have given up on the US media, at least for politics. No one expects anything from it besides people telling you what to think without telling you why. No wonder more people 18-24 choose to watch The Daily Show.
The split between the left and right sides of the political spectrum has gotten to the point where real discourse, compromise, and cooperation are forgotten. It's no surprise considering there are so few good examples these days. Again, the media has done us a disservice by feeding only punditry. No wonder major media outlets are the last place I look to for political information. Thanks a lot, newstainment! Excuse me, I need to go barf in a corner because I just thought of the future of this country (and I don't just mean for the next four years).

Random muttering #2 (November 13, 2004)
I should also add that I totally understand the backlash against the smugness and condescendence that some feel liberals exuded even in losing the presidential election this year. It's a two-way street though. When people start marginalizing your views and trying to apply negative stereotypes as though the only reason you would vote for Bush (or Kerry) is because you believe strongly in everything Bush (or Kerry) claims to support, then it is naturally hard to respect them. One gains respect through respect -- if someone makes it clear that they don't respect my capacity to make my own judgements because I'm merely one of the brainwashed masses, then why should I be anything but indignant and even more committed to my decisions? I'll admit that my kneejerk reaction to the election results were not far from The Daily Mirror's, but I've since cooled down and realized that it's easy making judgements about the people who voted for your candidate's opponent, but those judgements are hardly based on a complete picture. Only by understanding motivations on a person-by-person basis can one form an opinion, and then, only of one person. Anything broader is just practicing ignorance.

It's human nature to stereotype those unlike oneself, but that doesn't make it right.

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Alan L. Liu <surak@tomorrow.dnsalias.org> / Last revised 13 November 2004