Around the Free Press office, terms like “uncertain economic times” and “excruciating decisions” have been popping up with such startling frequency that we started to keep a list of these and other economy related clichés on the white board in our production room.
Covering the financial distress of a state-funded university can leave one feeling awash in a wave of PR buzzwords sometimes, but there is no denying the murky future that lies in front of us.
The job market doesn’t look much better. A job fair a few weeks ago at an Arizona Target store saw thousands turn up in hopes of landing any sort of steady employment, even at a relatively low-paying big box retailer.
So what do you do when the economy is a smoldering shadow of it’s former self? Well, bust out the teabags, scrawl some catchy slogans on poster board, and take to the streets of Portland, naturally. At least, that seemed to be the mindset at last week’s “Tax Day Tea Party,” a nationwide demonstration that – at the encouragement of conservative radio and talk show hosts – drew around a quarter million people out in opposition to the Obama Administration’s tactics for combating the faltering economy.
I should also mention that a far more objective and newsy account of this same event written by our news editor can be found on page four of this issue.
Let me begin this account of my experience among the teabag-festooned demonstrators by making something clear; this is not meant as an attack on the political right. More than anything I admire these folks for putting on such a public exhibition of their discontent in this most unwelcoming (read: liberal) of settings.
However, this event, and all the media hoopla leading up to it, made me annoyingly aware of a sad truth in our modern practice of political discourse. Too often, it seems, people fervently fight along arbitrary lines, as opposed to submitting to an open discourse on the issues at hand.
This practice that boils down what should be a serious and frank discussion about our nation’s anemic economy into a three-ring, mud slinging motto-fest of silly protests signs and intolerance.
Tuesday’s edition of the Press Herald featured a column by Bill Nemitz previewing the tax-day demonstration that embodied this brand of intolerant rhetoric as succinctly as any of the homemade posters depicting a Hilter-stached Obama flown by the conservative crew.
In his column “The mad Republicans’ tea party?” Nemitz characterizes the protest as a “full-blown temper tantrum” of the right, and proceeds to systematically defame each of the conservative speakers set to take the stage the next day.
The article, which ends with the implication that Maine’s Republican’s are “going off the deep end” was cited during the tea party by WLOB talk show host Ray Richardson, giving the conservative corps just the ammunition they needed to victimize themselves, and further divide the public opinion.
Nemitz’s preemptive attack had all the subtly of a sledgehammer – in a city as overwhelmingly liberal as Portland, do well-respected columnists really need to be quashing conservative dissent so aggressively?
It’s not as if the liberal majority of the state can justifiably feel threatened by a crowd of 250 – our way of life is not in danger from a group of teabag-wielding demonstrators, so why not just let the people have their day?
Of course a passionate conservative is going to feel slightly peeved on April 15th. As proponents of limited government and free-market economics, sending away a sizeable chunk of their income to support the social and economic policies of a distinctly liberal government must be a difficult exercise.
The U.S. tax system is an understandable bone of contention within the conservative camp, but through characterizing their outrage as “entertaining,” and quoting only the most accusatory and intolerant sound bites from the event’s speakers, the columnist dropped a firebomb when an olive branch might have been more fitting.
This Fox News vs. MSNBC culture we find ourselves steeped in has us all believing that there are only two sides to an issue, and no room for anything in between. When a conservative minority is brave enough to speak up and voice its displeasure, do we really need to actively discredit their cause, and go on the offensive?
Sure, this tactic has become somewhat commonplace, with actions and reactions scrawled all over the internet, broadcast on the 24-hour news networks, and spewed from countless talking heads.
As fun and entertaining as this debate can sometimes be, it packs a hidden toll not often recognized: dividing a country that -especially now – needs to stand together to weather a time of unprecedented challenges.
Thanks for reading,
Matt Dodge