-or- why the sound-bites rule
Last night we witnessed a debate between two men desiring to be elected the President of the United States. Both had their opportunity to discuss their plans and policies, both had the opportunity to win over undecided voters, and both had the opportunity to educate the populace.
Both are pretty poor choices in my opinion as well, but that is just thrown in here for fun, doesn't really have to do with the rest of what I will write.
More than anything last night though, the candidates did just what they knew they needed to. They gave us more sound-bites. The media loves them for it I am sure. It gives them the chance to print, show or play a phrase, sentence, or perhaps a couple, and then spin it however they want to. The campaigns love it as well. It allows them to take a word or two, and spin it so far out of context that the original meaning is obfuscated entirely.
And boy, do we eat it up.
But wait, we are smart, savvy voters. Right? Hmm, I'm not so sure. I generally refrain from commenting on the political threads because, well, I am far too cynical about the political climate of the US these days to be objective in even the most minute manner. At least I recognize that though. I do read them however. And I laugh. I laugh at the Bush loyals, brilliantly penning the most recently spun buzz words by their side. Fantastically tossing the out of context sound-bites we hear the President himself repeat, or we hear in his ads, they boggle the opposition with their borrowed wit.
The ardent Kerry supporters are no better. Reminding us of the most recently quoted statistics, with the appropriate anti-Bush spin. Benevolently looking down on those who can't seem to see as clearly as them, they remind us of just how far gone the country is. It makes me feel better at night to know Sen John Kerry is going to get America back for those of us wandering aimlessly in some heretofore unnamed country. Seriously. I do.
We have become a society of short attention spans, and politicians know it. They make sure they come up with just enough phrases to stick in our minds (because many of us probably won't bother to actually study out entire ideas). Their speech writers help them distill anything important or pertinent down to a sentence or less. That way, not only can we remember it, but we can repeat it!
I don't blame the politicians though. They are just doing what they know works. We need just look at the entertainment industry to see that the biggest sellers are often the movies/TV shows/music/books that cater to our most superficial senses. Whether it be flashy special effects covering a paper thin story, glossy production and marketing hiding cookie cutter and vacuous pop music, or aggressive hype and a fancy cover neatly wrapping up scintillating but hallow prose, it works. So the politicians just follow suit. They prey on our short attention spans, convinced that the majority will latch on to the sound-bite and pass on the actual work necessary to find out the truth of the issues themselves.
And what burns me up the most is when I find myself falling for it.