Politics of Clint Eastwood’s empty chair
http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/03/opinion/avlon-politics-empty-chair/index.html?hpt=hp_bn7
I didn’t watch any of the RNC (and have no intention of watching any bit of the DNC either), but did see and read lots of stuff on Eastwood’s ‘performance’. I don’t feel any need to comment on Ryan’s ‘elaborations of the truth’ (though I read this one with interest: Paul Ryan’s marathon lie), he is, after all, a politician. Romney’s comments were his typical vapid air-headed, say nothing usual, so it really doesn’t warrant comment either, so really, there is only Eastwood. I haven’t made time to watch any of the videos (and probably won’t), so am going by what other’s have written. However, based on what I have read to date, this article above really takes the whole thing to heart. I really like this quote:
… The Politics of the Empty Chair allows narratives to take the place of facts and usher in an essentially fictitious debate, inspiring monologues that feel like dialogues.
It’s the political equivalent of shadowboxing, intellectual combat with a fear-fueled misrepresentation of your opponent. The funniest comment about Eastwood’s performance came via Twitter from Nation writer Jamelle Bouie: “This is a perfect representation of the campaign: An old white man arguing with an imaginary Barack Obama.”
Let me be clear, this is not in any way GOP specific. The Dems (as mentioned in the article) are guilty as well of empty chair politics, but to me it seems the GOP has taken it to new heights (or, rather, lows). With all this information available to the average citizen, courtesy of our World Wide Web, people choose to selectively filter information to the point where they will vociferously defend idiotic ideas (surely it can’t all be about gullibility, can it?). Don’t bother me with facts! I already have my mind made up!
Members of the echo chamber love the Politics of the Empty Chair because it allows them to speak for the opposition, creating their own cartoon images, demonizing and distorting them beyond all recognition.
The conspiracy entrepreneurs and professional partisans who profit in this environment need to keep their audiences agitated, convinced that they have access to special knowledge.
They become addicted to division, divorced from the actual responsibilities of governing…
It seems to me (as it does increasingly), that the US experiment is doomed. Perhaps the implosion won’t be as violent as me and the doomsday apocalypse people feel it will be, but I just can’t envision the pendulum swinging back from the insanity I see today. It would require that the average Joe and Jill suddenly start to care about reality and turn away from the ‘echo chamber’. However, based on my interactions with fellow Joes and Jills, I just don’t see any potential for that. Politics has always been a race to the bottom, but I see the bottom continuing to go lower as the pursuit intensifies…
