The press loves nothing as much as a fight. And they care nothing about the consequences. Which has made me a little bit annoyed this morning.
Exhibit One, from the right. Alex Massie of The Telegraph, writing in The Daily Beast, calls Americans a bunch of wimps for reacting against Joe Wilson. The US needs to take a leaf out of the British book and start heckling each other, he argues. Except, of course, that it is expressly forbidden in the UK to accuse someone of being a liar in Parliament, so there's not actually any difference. Not to mention the fact that the spirit in the House of Commons is ugly and pointless, and a lot of Brits like me wish that they behaved less like children and focused on running the country. And, thirdly, do we really think that American politics needs more combativeness and less respect? Has Mr. Massie spent even a minute examining recent political events in the States? If politicians in America got any more adversarial we'd have had an assassination by now.
Exhibit Two, from the left. Charles M. Blow in The New York Times says that Obama can't get angry enough. "He’s an idealist in an age of cynicism, a conciliator at a time of cleaving. He strives to appeal to a dwindling body of better angels in an increasingly bifurcated country. It’s noble and inspirational, but will it be effective?" Sorry, Mr. Blow, but am I right here? You criticise Obama for being overly conciliatory and in doing so you liken his tactics to words from a speech given by Abraham Lincoln?! I'm not sure if you've read much of your own history, but at the point Lincoln gave his First Inaugural Address, seven states had just seceded from the union. But apparently today's world is more divided than that?
*Sigh*
To quote an old sci-fi movie, have IQs all dropped suddenly while I've been away?
Think Of the Children
59 minutes ago
