The United States of Filibuster
Cameron Jalayerian
Issue date: 3/8/10 Section: News
Sarah Palin: American politics' answer to Paris Hilton. We're not sure where or why the first person thought she warranted any legitimate public attention. We thought we were sure that such a self-satirizing political celebutante couldn't long be an idol of Americana, that she must one day slide off on her showers of word-vomit into the realm of the bitter and obscure. Hopefully we can say that's begun with her step down from media-politician to political media correspondent. But for now the possibility of her political candidacy is still on the table, the showers will keep coming and an alarming portion of the population will keep drinking them up like the water of the Word. And so Palin makes the unfortunate starting point for my discussion of American legislative debate. With her ambitious propagation of untruths like the "downright evil system" of "Obama's death panels," she set a nice trend of toxic filibustering that has pretty much held out in the health care debates.
Of course, it's not just the celebrity politicians that we need worry about. Parallels between American elections, persona-marketing and entertainment news run so deep that this article would burst if I really tried to take them on. But for this argument's sake, the politics of self-image embodied in Sarah Palin is a useful baseline. As we move up the political stratum, self-image construction becomes slightly less explicit, slightly more crafty-but even those at the top are more than happy to pass Joe-the-plumber around like a football. Campaigners place their bets on which circus acts will snatch the most viewers, and where it comes to issues they simply make five-point lists: "shore-up," "mainstreet," "jobs," "America" and "strong." And like any bit of mass marketing, the election process is governed by reaction to social image rather than real-world proposals. In the words of McCain's campaign manager Rick Davis just two months before voting day, "This election is not about issues. This election is about a composite view of what people take away from these candidates."
Of course, it's not just the celebrity politicians that we need worry about. Parallels between American elections, persona-marketing and entertainment news run so deep that this article would burst if I really tried to take them on. But for this argument's sake, the politics of self-image embodied in Sarah Palin is a useful baseline. As we move up the political stratum, self-image construction becomes slightly less explicit, slightly more crafty-but even those at the top are more than happy to pass Joe-the-plumber around like a football. Campaigners place their bets on which circus acts will snatch the most viewers, and where it comes to issues they simply make five-point lists: "shore-up," "mainstreet," "jobs," "America" and "strong." And like any bit of mass marketing, the election process is governed by reaction to social image rather than real-world proposals. In the words of McCain's campaign manager Rick Davis just two months before voting day, "This election is not about issues. This election is about a composite view of what people take away from these candidates."
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