John Whitehead's Commentary

We've got to face it. Politics have entered a new stage, the television stage. Instead of long-winded public debates, the people want capsule slogans--"Time for a change"--"The mess in Washington"--"More bang for a buck"--punch lines and glamour.--A Face in the Crowd

This statement by General Haynesworth, the media mogul in the classic film A Face in the Crowd (1957), more than aptly sums up contemporary politics. And with the mid-term elections, the barrage of offensive, nasty, non-issue-oriented campaign ads and the trite sound bite slogans of the candidates clearly show how low and degrading American politics have become.

Television is the dominant medium of our media-dominated age. Like the atom bomb, which altered both the American psyche and the cultural landscape of the mid-twentieth century, television has likewise altered the nature of political power. However, television has had a far greater impact on everyday life.

Indeed, television doesn't just affect society. In the words of Jeffrey Scheuer in his book The Sound Bite Society, "to a great extent, it is society. All politics is no longer simply local; most politics--and most popular culture--is televisual."

And televised politics is deceptive, corrupt and manipulative. The awful campaign ads, which help decide modern elections, are a prime example of the death of any truth in politics. Let me list just two examples, as cited by journalist William Fisher.

The Republican challenger for the Wisconsin House seat of Congressman Ron Kind ran a TV ad headed, "Ron Kind Pays for Sex!" with "XXX" stamped across Kind's face. The implication is clear. However, the truth behind the spin is that Kind--along with more than 200 of his colleagues in the House--was actually opposing an unsuccessful effort to stop the National Institutes of Health from pursuing peer-reviewed sex studies.

In New York, the National Republican Campaign Committee ran an ad accusing Democratic House candidate Michael A. Arcuri, a district attorney, of using taxpayer dollars for phone sex. "Hi, sexy," a seductive voice murmurs, "you've reached the live, one-on-one fantasy line." It was yet another instance of spin and distortion. In fact, Arcuri's aides had been trying to call the state Division of Criminal Justice, whose number was almost identical to that of a porn line. The misdial cost taxpayers $1.25.

These ads, compiled by political strategists with the assistance of advertising firms, have one aim: personal destruction, not truth. As Fisher writes, "They pander to our basest fears and prejudices. And they make it even more difficult for voters to make rational, informed decisions."

Thus, by way of television, politics is dominated by money and profit, imagery and spin, hype and personality. It has become a form of entertainment.

In The Last Hurrah, Edwin O'Connor's novel about corrupt politics, mayor Frank Skeffington tries to instruct his young nephew in the realities of political machinery. Politics, he tells him, is the greatest spectator sport in America. In 1966, Ronald Reagan used a different metaphor. "Politics," he said, "is just like show business."

There are several important points to make about the political mess. First, the average voter is manipulated by politicians. Those who see politics as a form of religion are even more susceptible. The enraptured faces at political conventions bear a striking resemblance to those who sit mesmerized by TV preachers.

Second, the average voter is largely uninformed about the nature of the political system. And they are even more unaware of the impact of television on their voting. Unfortunately, this naïveté and willingness to let themselves be manipulated by political spin doctors even extends to their pocketbooks.

Finally, there is a growing disinterest among more and more Americans concerning the electoral process. They intuitively recognize that something is wrong. And yet they allow themselves to be lulled into a false sense of security by the government and its advertising handlers, who place so much emphasis on the "reassurance ritual" of voting, which provides the illusion of participation.

However, the reality is that people are not going to turn their televisions off. Television for most people is the most attractive thing in their lives. And the shouting heads that are the language of most television talk shows are here to stay. Thus, the chance of any truth getting through to us is slim.

If there is any answer to be found, it is in those three beautiful words at the beginning of the Constitution--"We the people." It is our government. And it is our responsibility to change the corrupt nature of the political system--even if it means dismantling it. If not, political discourse will continue in jest. And democracy in our society will be a mere appearance.

ABOUT JOHN W. WHITEHEAD

Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute. His most recent books are the best-selling Battlefield America: The War on the American People, the award-winning A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State, and a debut dystopian fiction novel, The Erik Blair Diaries. Whitehead can be contacted at staff@rutherford.org. Nisha Whitehead is the Executive Director of The Rutherford Institute. Information about The Rutherford Institute is available at www.rutherford.org.

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