rebuttalization of politics

by Alan Smith

Published: May 2, 2008

Barack Obama has recently been criticized for saying that people in rural areas of the country are a breed inferior to city-dwelling, right-thinking, Democrat voters and should be exterminated immediately. Or at least that’s what it seems judging from the media reaction. I don’t know. I don’t actually do research.

Oh wait, he painted rural Americans with the usual redneck stereotype - and said they liked guns and God? That’s all? Awesome! That’s exactly what American politics needs. And I’m not kidding.

That’s the point of this site, isn’t it? Politics as unusual. The viewers of this site, at least those who approve of its premise, should greet this as the coming of the messiah. Let’s encourage the Rebuttalizing of American politics.

Everyone complains about a lack of honesty in politics. Obama might not have been correct, but at least he was honest. I’d love to see more candidates make moves like this. Can one of the candidates please say in public that Hillary is riding Bill’s coattails and that she’s a carpetbagger? Can someone say that McCain will be fed intravenously by the time he finishes his presidency and his hair is so bright it looks like he dyes it white to win more of the senior citizen vote?

Whether you like it or not, this is the direction American politics will go over the next few decades. Look at where young Americans get news - Colbert and Stewart. Mike Huckabee ran for a nomination at least partially based on using humor to attract attention. He placed Chuck Norris in a campaign ad and said his foreign policy experience came from staying in a Holiday Inn Express. If you don’t get those jokes, you suck at googling. Young America expects funny. Increased use of it gets more people into politics and voting - not a bad thing.

It’s not like this is a trivialization of politics. Ben Franklin was funnier than any three late-night hosts combined, and didn’t restrain that humor regarding politics. Need I mention Mark Twain? Will Rogers? It’s a centuries old tradition to use humor to attack bad positions, but it’s only in modern times that we’re getting serious about it. The industrialized nature of modern humor with thousands of writers working overtime to produce jokes for your constant pleasure on TV and the Net means that politicians need to watch their step even more nowadays.

People criticize this movement for making politics a silly game. When has it not been? William Harrison won a presidential election by giving out barrels of whiskey. Boom. Point refuted. Serious people take elections seriously, and people who deserve to reproduce don’t… it’s always been like that, and always will.

It’s important that we don’t confuse entertainment with simple negativity and trash-talking. I guess I could attack Obama on those grounds, once I’m done laughing. The last thing we need is more half-truthful negativity in politics. But did he honestly think that anyone was going to be convinced to vote for him based on those remarks? It’s not like he put out an attack ad alleging that counties with low population density had improper relations with their pets. Really there’s enough use of stereotypes that rural areas don’t hold a patent on righteous indignation. We are all guilty of it. I’m from New Jersey, and none of your jokes about it are funny.

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