Political Noise

Music and silence - how I detest them both! How thankful we should be that ever since Our Father entered Hell... no square inch of infernal space and no moment of infernal time has been surrendered to either of those abominable forces, but all has been occupied by Noise - Noise, that grand dynamism, the audible expression of all that is exultant, ruthless, and virile - Noise which alone defends us from silly qualms, despairing scruples and impossible desires. We will make the whole universe a Noise in the end. We have already made great strides in this direction as regards the Earth. ~C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters

Just in tracking down this passage online, I ran across a good number of thoughtful commentaries on the effect of Noise in the world and particularly the Christian life. And I make no pretense to add to the conclusion we already know is true – that the Noise we allow in our lives crowds out the only Voice by which our souls can ultimately be satisfied.

The amount of Noise in politics is what has truly astounded me lately. Call it my enduring (not to be confused with endearing) naïveté, despite the fact that I’ve been in the field full time for more than four years. Now that the board is set and the pieces are moving for the presidential election, I have heard downright mean Noise from both sides. I have been particularly flabbergasted by how blatantly the political Noise has been interfering with policy in the last few weeks. It’s to be expected in this town during an even year, but to hear some of what has been said in Congress this week is downright gut-wrenching.

There’s plenty of Noise beyond the House floor, too. One name, Sarah Palin, generates some of the most absurd noise to date.

A few examples, with some can’t-help-it commentary from yours truly:

From Wendy Doniger, Distinguished Service Professor of the History of Religions at the University of Chicago Divinity School: “[Palin’s] greatest hypocrisy is in her pretense that she is a woman…” (Only proving how much science should be taught alongside religion – these poor divinity students apparently wouldn’t do well in biology class!) “… the Republican Party [has made a] cynical calculation that because [Palin] has a womb and makes lots and lots of babies… she speaks for the women of America.” (Cue laughter for the thousands of families who are part of the Republican base and consider four kids a small family.)

Okay, so one Divinity prof in Chicago thinks no one can be a woman unless you agree with her. No one claimed the academy was the last bastion of humility.

But it gets worse. Carol Fowler, chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party: “[Palin’s] primary qualification seems to be that she hasn’t had an abortion.”

Oh, yeah, and ran a state. Which means budgets, decisions, commanding troops, and being elected through a democratic process that includes more than just one party. Last time I checked, state party chairs are chosen without the input of… well, anyone else. So people who think like Carol thinks she can run things – which is great. But what if she had to defend her position to those who did not have a like mind?

And then there’s Salon’s Cinta Wilson: “Sarah Palin and her virtual burqa have me and my friends retching into our handbags. She’s such a power-mad, backwater beauty-pageant casualty, it’s easy to write her off and make fun of her.”

To quote my Dad, “aren’t you being defensive?”

Perhaps I am only adding to the cacophony, but my point is this: in all the ink being spilled over the Republican Vice Presidential candidate at the moment, there is a dearth of anything positive, anything constructive, anything policy-oriented. I recognize policy and politics are two different things, but you should never lose sight of one for passion of the other. There is a difference even between saying Sarah Palin is not a woman and saying she is out of touch with the majority of American women. The former statement smacks of ad hominem; the latter is defensible and lends itself to meaningful policy discussion.

While I must admit that the partisan in me is amused by the current befuddlement of the media, academy, and liberal establishment over the enigmatic, “power-mad, backwater beauty-pageant casualty” who happens to run the geographically largest state in the Union, the American in me is discouraged. Yes, this is a historic election; yes, I think it’s fantastic that we have such “diverse” tickets for both parties. But the pundits and the cable-news-watching-zombies who drink the Kool Aid - be it red or blue - have proven their willingness to muddle any policy discussion with the Noise of personal politics. Which will leave us right where we started, and the mass of Americans just as frustrated with Washington as they are today.

Screwtape and his ilk would appear to have the sphere of Americans politics submerged in the suffocation of Noise. And there it will stay until we the people demand something other than Noise.

Only time will tell if that call will ever come.