"The Fine Print", by Michael Schrader

THE LAST OF A DYING BREED?

By Michael Schrader

(Written and posted 6 April 2011)

I am a political junkie. I have been since before high school. Even though I was just a wee lad, I remember going to D.C. right around the time Nixon resigned and seeing a Dick Nixon squeezee doll, with arm stretched out and two fingers making a peace sign, and across his chest was written, “I am not a crook!”. During that same vacation, we stopped at a little store in Boston, and I convinced my parents to by me a red, white, and blue stuffed toy donkey (it looked like a dog from a distance), which I had in my possession until I moved into my current house in 2008. (I haven’t seen it since, and my ex-wife was the last one out of the old house, and since we don’t really talk to each other, who knows what happened to it.)

When I got into high school, I took the obligatory history classes, and like just about every other high school student throughout the ages, I found it dull and tedious. After all, there are only so many names, dates, and places that a person can cram into a brain. When I got into the upper division of high school, history suddenly came alive. It was no longer rote memorization of names, dates, and places, but narratives of people and their governments and the relationship between the governed and the government. As bland, boring history became political science, I found myself hooked. Suddenly, there were vibrant stories of real people making real decisions affecting other people. If you look at the etymology of the word “politics”, it is the English of the Latin “politicus” which has its roots in the Greek “politikos” which has its roots in the word “polites” , meaning “citizen”, which comes from the word “polis”, which means “city”. Politics, then, is the story of the citizens of the city, and how the citizens interact with the city.

If you are like me and a true political junkie, you know that the topic is as fascinating as any dime store novel, involving love, betrayal, greed, treachery, and about any other juicy tidbit you would find in a melodrama, with one notable difference – it is all true. Wars have been fought, nations have been conquered, not by some abstract notion of a nation, but by the people who lead that nation, that is, because of politics. The American Revolution, for example, was brought about by politics, both in England and on the continent. In the United Colonies, your political beliefs, not your race, creed, or social status, determined whether you were a beloved Patriot or a hated Royalists. Because of politics, namely the Quebec Act, Canada’s French-Catholics were not assimilated into the British Empire but rather given a level of autonomy never before seen in the British Dominions, and led not only to the American Revolution (among other things), but also a very unique country called Canada, which is, for all practical purposes, two Canada’s – an English, Protestant one, and a French, Catholic one. If you understand politics, you literally understand the world, as politics is an integral part of every nation.

Unfortunately, most people find politics to be insufferably boring. In the United States, most of the electorate is tuned out and apathetic and just doesn’t care, which is why there are too many elections where less than ten percent of the electorate get to decide what happens to the other ninety-plus percent. When I have written about personal melodrama, my readership has jumped, but when I return to my favorite topic, it plummets. After all, who really wants to know about Tax Increment Financing and budgets and bonds and the national debt and all that boring stuff when it is much more important to know what the people from “Jersey Shore” are doing every minute of the day. Much more exciting than politics.

There used to be legions of writers who, like me, liked to talk and write about politics, but those numbers are dwindling fast. One of the best of the true political pundits was David Broder, who passed away from complications from diabetes last month. David wrote for four decades for the Washington Post, and whenever I’d visit the Post’s website, I’d always search for David’s columns first. What set David apart from others is that he was a centrist, just as willing to rip into Obama as he was Reagan. His columns discussed issues, both hugely important and not-so-hugely important, and made me think, which is what a good columnist is supposed to do. When I read his columns, I always imagined him ripping into the latest stupid politician with a slight smile on his face, knowing that he would meet the target of his wrath that day at some future time and have a civil conversation over coffee. What impressed me the most about his work was his tone, as he could criticize and still be civil.

Unfortunately, most of the political pundits left are nothing more than mean party hacks. Hannity. Limbaugh. Palin. Beck. Levin. Coulter. The rest of the Fox personalities. These so-called “pundits” always take one view, a decidedly right-wing Republican one, and do not hesitate to insult and ridicule those that do not conform to their worldview. To insult and ridicule the First Lady of the United States is not civil at all, but childish and mean-spirited. Most of these so-called “pundits” wouldn’t be able to survive an actual civil debate. They are more Jerry Springer than they are Jim Lehrer.

There are still many other good political pundits out there. Michael Gerson. George Will. Richard Cohen. Ruth Marcus. David Ignatius. I enjoy reading their articles as well, but you can tell which side of the political fence they sit, and they tend to chastise one side more than the other, but at least they are civil in their chastisement and have facts to back up their opinions.

In the years that I have been writing this column, I have always tried to base my opinions with facts, and have been willing to chastise both sides when they err. I have Republican friends, and I have Democrat friends, and I am always willing to talk politics with them over a cup of coffee and a piece of pie. I always try to make people think, whether or not you agree with me; when we stop thinking for ourselves, when we just agree because we don’t want to offend anyone, then we lose our soul, we lose what makes us unique and human – free thought.

Let’s hope there are many up-and-coming Broders out there.

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