I have had it with elected officials depending on polls and focus groups and fingers in the wind to instruct them as to what direction they should take us. We sent them "to the hill" from which, presumably, they are the ones with the 360 degree view. In their emotionally crowded lives, average working class voters should be able to rely on those they send to the hill to get the complete picture, and then have the courage to lead. To lead, not return to them for instructions.Translation: Stop hand-wringing about why the great mass of people can't understand things and just tell them how it's going to be. Then, instead of that nasty feeling you have now -- caused by thinking the American people are stupid -- you can start feeling good -- thinking what a fine, empathetic person you are for respecting the way ordinary people devote themselves to family and work and not to politics.
I cringe for that great body of voters every time I hear them disparaged --"Can't they see they're voting against their own self-interest?"-- by us Democrats, liberals, progressives, whatever we are calling ourselves at the moment. We owe them empathy, understanding, leadership.
And I will give Lear credit: That was nicely written, in an appropriately readable, bloggy style.
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14 comments:
Communists wrote some good books as well.
Bill: Apt.
I gave up after day one. There's something sad about it: the rich and famous, the talented and funny, all brought low by their own vanity.
Patca: You know I get each comment sent to me by email, and it read it without knowing what post it's a comment on. When I read yours, I completely assumed it was on the "American Idol" post. I clicked the link to come over and say "That's what I love about it" (i.e., "American Idol"). Very amused to find out the comment was on HuffPo.
Are you guys comparing Norman Lear to a Communist?
I figured he was just a clueless rich and famous Hollywood guy stuck in the "Golden Age of the 70's Sitcom" era. How is he like a Communist?
Melinda: I did my translation on the front page. I didn't call him a Communist. There are many forms of government that don't involve consulting the people on what they want and are based on the idea that the people are incapable even of figuring out what they want.
In the Sam Tanenhuaus bio of Whitaker Chambers, there's a great quote I've always remembered from Henry Luce, the then editor in chief at Time Magazine, and hard core Republican:
"He could've hired subordinates whose politics were more to his liking but, as he often groused, 'Goddam Republicans can't write'"
It's a whole new world.
"HuffPo!" Let's coin that now.
ann althouse said: There are many forms of government that don't involve consulting the people on what they want and are based on the idea that the people are incapable even of figuring out what they want.
Okay. Thanks.
Now I'm trying to remember the exact quote on this, as well as the source: If the citizens don't like the government, throw them out and get new citizens.
Lear brought "Sanford and Son" to America. That buys him a pass on almost anything with me.
Ann:
Relative to your comment about Lear's "bloggy" writing, has someone handed down a prosribed blogging style? I hope not. I like variety.
Mark
It speaks volumes that the sole tolerable post on that wretched blog is from Norman Lear.
Mark: I think there are different ways of being bloggy, and readers will disagree about what works well on a blog. I think there are some things that work a lot better in a book or a magazine article than on a blog. Just like some things work better in conversation than in writing, even though there are many different ways of being a good conversationalist.
I couldn't help notice how Lear separates "us" (the leaders) from "them" (the voters). I'm getting a herd-of-cattle image from his use of "them." Am I making too much of it?
Just finished Hugh Hewitt's book on blogging. In it, he agrees with Ann that there are many different styles and types of blogging.
Most notable, to him, were those who aggregated, and those who analyzed. And those, of course, who just talk about their own lives (which is probably more of what I do, though I do try sometimes to analyze).
Maybe with Huffinton, we are seeing something else. We shall see.
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