Am I getting too old?
I don't know, but lately I've found it hard to be inspired by political speeches, even the ones people call "inspired" and "masterfully delivered." There just seems to be too much tactical dishonesty going on, too much erasing of distinctions, too much pandering to the prejudices of the audience. Of course all these things are exaggerated at political conventions. Even when I want to get behind the message, like last night watching the DNC, I find myself getting turned off by the dumbness of it all. There's Biden up there, who, admittedly, I've never liked much, telling us over and over that "Obama was right, and McCain was wrong!" And there were other slams at McCain that were so patently unfair, that I started to feel a tinge of sympathy for the man. Help!
I guess my defenses just rise when I detect propaganda, that sense that the words are calculated only for their effect, not their truth value. Another way to put it is to compare it to something I've always hated at baseball games. Fans judge the correctness or incorrectness of a call only on whether it helps or hurts the team they are supporting. What actually happened in front of their eyes does not matter.
Maybe it's a built-in problem with a democracy that relies on half-informed people not paying full attention. Or maybe it's just me.
posted by Hudson @ 5:34 PM
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