Baseball Bats and Better Angels
Though not relating to the main subject matter, advocate and fellow TU blogger David Kaczynski on Sunday wrote about the importance of dialogue in dealing with hateful sentiments and, in doing so, provided an example via Carl Paladino’s run for New York State Governor and his campaign promise to “take a baseball bat” to Albany:
“Apparently, Paladino sees himself somewhat as Alexander the Great cutting the Gordian knot. Given Albany’s dysfunction, I can appreciate the impulse – yet I would rather have some wiser head come along and solve the riddle of the Sphinx, i.e. rescue democracy from its current degenerate form. And I suspect such a rescue can only happen through an appeal to what Lincoln called “the better angels of our nature.”
This pretty well sums up my problem with Paladino and much of the Tea Party rhetoric (even though many involved want to distance themselves from “Crazy Carl”): there are not points or arguments or solutions raised. Rather, it is pure, unadulterated anger; the kind that’s so scary because it incites and inspires so much in others without providing any sort of method for how to “fix” things.
Which is exactly how Paladino won the Republican nomination. Not because Lazio was a poor nominee (which he was; as good of a guy as he is he has all the charisma of a wet brick) but because he talks at the same level as a frustrated, angry, out of his mind guy on the street. “The voice of the people,” except it’s just the people that are loudest; those that are uncertain and worried and frustrated and have no idea what could or should be done.
Seeing one of their own losing control of himself in a very public and unashamed manner and vying for power can be empowering in a strange way. The fact that Paladino is so unapologetic about his discourse and his behavior gives his supporters (and more) let loose on all those hostilities that are frowned upon by polite society.
If anger and hate are an opiate for the masses, than Carl Paladino is both drug pusher and enabler. That’s what bothers me. It encourages a degradation of thought, emotional stability, and understanding.
That and the horse f***ing e-mails.
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That Paladino is one “straight shooter.”
*Incites
D’OH! Right. Thanks!
David Kaczynski always has the most eloquent way of phrasing things.
Seriously, does no one remember the horse f***ing? No one? I’m really pretty terrified for our state…
I still can’t believe he won the primary after the e-mails. Frankly, it’s depressing and tells me more than I want to know about my fellow citizens. Like racism is perfectly fine with them.