{"id":6963,"date":"2015-09-25T12:31:24","date_gmt":"2015-09-25T12:31:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/2015\/09\/25\/the-decline-and-fall-of-american-political-debate\/"},"modified":"2015-09-25T12:31:24","modified_gmt":"2015-09-25T12:31:24","slug":"the-decline-and-fall-of-american-political-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/2015\/09\/25\/the-decline-and-fall-of-american-political-debate\/","title":{"rendered":"The Decline and Fall of American Political Debate"},"content":{"rendered":"

A good article<\/a> by John Daniel Davidson.  Excerpt:<\/span><\/p>\n

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For years it\u2019s been remarked that we no longer have one American culture but many, that we\u2019ve become Balkanized into a dizzying array of interests and identity groups separated by race, ethnicity, religion, and much else.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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But we\u2019re also separated, increasingly, by the news and commentary we read and watch. To the extent that it informs us of what\u2019s going on, and why, and what to expect, our fragmentation and insularity has reached a dangerous tipping point: we no longer agree on what\u2019s real.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Davidson illustrates his point by analysis of three recent examples: Ahmed Mohamed the Clock Maker; Carly Fiorina vs. Planned Parenthood; the invasion of illegals from Central America.<\/span><\/p>\n

But what makes Davidson's article especially good is that he provides historical context by suggesting that the current mess had its origin in 1968 in a rancorous exchange between William F. Buckley and Gore Vidal.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Buckley and Vidal met ten times over the course of the two conventions and spent most of their time attacking one another. Much of the debate footage is online, but the documentary plumbs the motivations of each man and the profound consequences of their televised battle. Of Vidal, Heritage Foundation historian Lee Edwards said, \u201cI don\u2019t think he was really interested in conducting a debate about the issues, or about the parties, or about the policies, or about the platforms of the two parties. What he wanted to do was to expose Bill Buckley.\u201d In this Vidal succeeded, but not quite in the way he\u2019d hoped.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

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The infamous moment came while they were debating the Vietnam War. Buckley compared opponents of the war to Nazi appeasers. Vidal, an opponent of the war, responded: \u201cThe only pro- or crypto-Nazi I can think of is yourself.\u201d Back then, calling someone a Nazi was taboo (unlike today, when it is mostly ridiculous). Buckley lost his temper. He leaned toward Vidal, shaking with anger, narrowed his eyes and said: \u201cNow listen, you queer, quit calling me a crypto-Nazi or I\u2019ll sock you in the goddamn face and you\u2019ll stay plastered.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

That moment, together with all the rancor and ad hominem attacks that had led up to it, inaugurated a new era in American media: the end of the old, sober centrism and the beginning of open ideological warfare. It didn\u2019t happen overnight, but ABC\u2019s success\u2014the Buckley-Vidal debates propelled them to No. 1\u2014didn\u2019t go unnoticed, and on-air political debates between liberal and conservative pundits gradually became a regular feature of TV news programming: \u201cThe McLaughlin Group,\u201d \u201cCapital Gang,\u201d \u201cCrossfire,\u201d and all the rest. The personal, vituperative tone of the Buckley-Vidal debates became the now-familiar register of political punditry.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

We are now one step further into the cultural sewer:<\/span><\/p>\n

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Instead of shouting each other down the way they did on \u201cCrossfire,\u201d the new pundits are more apt to sneer and mock in the style of Jon Stewart<\/a>. There\u2019s little to be gained in arguing with an opponent but much to be gained by mocking him. What this means in practice is that we tend to seek out news and commentary that more or less reflects our own opinions back to us. Reading the news becomes an exercise in confirmation bias.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Related:  Pessimistic Thoughts on Political Discourse in America<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

A Case for Voluntary Segregation<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\nRelated articles<\/legend>\n
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\"\"<\/a>Look Back in Anger: The Buckley – Vidal Debates of 1968<\/a><\/div>\n
\"\"<\/a>The Decline And Fall Of American Political Debate<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/fieldset>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A good article by John Daniel Davidson.  Excerpt: For years it\u2019s been remarked that we no longer have one American culture but many, that we\u2019ve become Balkanized into a dizzying array of interests and identity groups separated by race, ethnicity, religion, and much else. But we\u2019re also separated, increasingly, by the news and commentary we … Continue reading “The Decline and Fall of American Political Debate”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[180,56],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-decline-of-the-west","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6963"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6963\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}