Citizen Journal Blog

John Leo writes that "political rhetoric, left and right, seems steadily worse":

We have reached the point where much political debate consists of insults and name-calling, every attack is likely to be called a "lynching," and tired expressions such as "institutional terrorism," "institutional racism," and "intellectual McCarthyism" are supposed to be taken as real arguments. Political polarization is an obvious cause.

But so is the democratization of the media, particularly the arrival of the Internet and big-time talk radio, which allow all of us to say whatever we like, no matter how crude.

Mail to columnists is much more abusive than it was a few years ago. Inarticulate people, many of them celebrities, are finding it hard to make their cases without lapsing into abuse. So political discussion more and more consists of angry feelings instead of rational argument. Our political rhetoric is routinely awful....

Replies: 3 Comments

Posted by: scooter On Wednesday, April 20th

I think Franken would take Rush but I don't think they're equivalents. How about:
Rush vs Kos
Franken vs Hannity
Hillary vs Rick Santorum
Condi vs Ann Richards

Some intriguing matchups. Maybe Ann Richards could mud-wrestle Janine Garafolo to rat-tail into a match against Condi.

Posted by: Aaron On Tuesday, April 19th

Let's just bring back the duel! We'll have Al Franken and Rush Limbaugh do ten paces and then draw.

(/facetiousness)

Posted by: Gadsden Flag On Monday, April 18th

Leo does a fair job of identifying excesses on the right and the left, and I agree with his call for civility. However, since the tone indicates that harsh political rhetoric is something new, some historical context would have been in order to show this is nothing new. As but one early case for illustration, look to the Hamilton-Burr exchanges, (and not just those made on a field in Weehawken in 1804). Outlandish charges and yellow journalism have been around since the very start of our Republic.

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