Editorial
Front Page - Friday, January 15, 2010
View from the Cheap Seats
The chill of politics
Bill James
William O. “Bill” James, Jr
It was fully my intent to write about the cold this week. If there is anything that has been relevant in the last ten days it has been the cold. The thing about the cold is that it usually doesn’t bother me unless it is really, really cold like it was last week. For the most part, I just travel from one climate controlled area to the next, so the cold is not that big of a deal. The fact that I have a little extra padding doesn’t hurt either.
That being said, let’s talk about politics. One major complaint about politicians is that they rarely seem to say anything publically that is not been completely thought out and prepared for public consumption. When getting ready for a trial, I will always consider the arguments I plan on making and try to view them from every direction in order to properly evaluate the strength or weakness of the argument. For my purposes, an argument that can come under attack by a baseless, yet emotionally volatile argument, is usually something to stay away from if I can come up with something better.
Politicians have to play this game all the time. The game inhibits their ability to be honest and candid in their evaluation of things when speaking on them publically. We know that behind the scenes and among their friends they speak their mind and say things that they do not want the public to know. There is nothing like a “hot” microphone to let us know how someone really feels about someone or a certain subject. The public revels in learning of the unscripted quips and then punishes the politician for what they said. They have to apologize to the public and then those they have offended with their statements.
It is sort of like the idea that people in politics never curse. Folks it happens. If there was a requirement that someone in politics had to be perfect, no one would be in politics. The parties go to war and seem almost aroused when someone is caught saying the exact same thing they and others have said. We want transparency, but then we attack when we get honesty. Maybe, it is like Jack Nicholson so plainly told Tom Cruise in that famous movie line: “you can’t handle the truth.”
I have no illusions that things will ever be substantially different, but it still never fails to amaze me that very smart people can get so riled up about things that are so intellectually false and they know it. Not to mention the hours that will be spent by the talking heads discussing candid statements that are generally true and trying to assess blame because they dared to utter them.
Honesty is not as easy as we like to pretend. Getting offended by offhanded statements that have nothing to do with the real concerns of our country is a waste of time. It is easy to see that even in the CHEAP SEATS! v
Share
|