Readers of this Blog will recall that on occasion, I've made reference to my old math professor, Tom Lehrer, one of the English language's best topical satirists. He is best known for such musical howls as "The Vatican Rag," "Pollution," and "New Math."
I've had Professor Lehrer on the brain the past couple of days. And no, not the class I took from him -- "Math for Tenors." Rather, a particular song he wrote back in 1965 about German rocket scientist Werner Von Braun. It opened with the words:
"Gather 'round while I sing you of Werner Von Braun,
A man whose allegiance is owed to expedience.
Call him a Nazi, he won't even frown,
'Nazi? Schmazti!' says Werner Von Braun."
The gates to memory began opening the first time I heard "Fixed Noise's" [Fox News] Bill O'Reilly liken the liberal political Blog, "The Daily Kos," to Al Capone, Benito Mussolini, the K.K.K. and incredibly, the Nazis. During the July 19 edition of "The O'Reilly Factor," the pseudo Journalist-cum-Voice-of-American-Values proclaimed, "[T]he hate this site traffics in, rivals the KKK and Nazi websites." On July 24, O'Reilly mused, "What's the difference between David Dukes and the stuff he [Kos] puts out on his website . . . what's the difference?"
The gates opened well past the halfway point when I heard radio talker Michael Savage compare the firing of don Imus to "what was done in Nazi Germany to Jews." Shame on you Michael; how in the name of all that's sane, holy or fair could a man born Michael Alan Weiner make such a hateful, asinine statement? And then, to top it off, a couple of days later you mused aloud, "You're telling me there's no possibility of a conspiracy by the Democrats to have caused [Chief Justice John Roberts'] seizure in some manner? . . . . Tell me its not possible and I'll call you a liar."
The gates flew completely off the hinges when, on July 31, Rush Limbaugh referred to Democrats as ". . . media spokespersons for Al Qaeda." "They [Democrats] have aligned themselves with the enemy," Limbaugh told his adoring, cerebrally challenged ditto-heads. "They continue to align themselves with the enemy. They just won't admit it."
AAARGH!
Or, to quote P.G. Wodehouse, "HEAVEN'S WHISKERS!"
Whatever happened to Voltaire's maxim, "I may not agree with you, but I'll defend your right to say it?" Since when in America did mere disagreement merit such unbridled heat, hatred and opprobrium? Has the "Daily Kos" really murdered more than six million Jews and a like number of gypsies, homosexuals and academics? Are those who are of the opinion that Don Imus was way off base in referring to members of the Rutgers Women's basketball team as "nappy-headed hos" really guilty of crimes against humanity? Are all the good people who think our war in Iraq has been a colossal blunder really, truly allied with Osama bin Laden?
Of course not.
So why all the uber-hyperbole? Do supposedly intelligent, thoughtful people like O'Reilly [M.P.A.,Harvard], Savage [Ph.D., Berkley], Coulter [J.D., Order of the Coif, Michigan], Limbaugh, Hannaty, Beck and the rest truly believe all the bilge they spew forth on a daily basis? I sincerely doubt it. In a strange, twisted way though, I would rest a bit easier if they really did believe all the bilge. At least then, we could send in a phalanx of physicians who would take their pulse, administer saliva tests and get them the therapy they so desperately need.
But the fact of the matter is that they don't believe 99% of what they tell their audiences. As a card-carrying cynic, I am duty-bound to explain the obvious: they make their idiotic, mind-numbing, possibly slanderous statements for the sake of -- you guessed it -- RATINGS. And even here, they are beginning to lose both credibility and traction.
So, at best, Limbaugh, O'Reilly, Hannaty et al are media pimps. At worst, they are incredibly, diabolically, pernicious. Likening anyone in American public life to Hitler, Mussolini or bin Laden trivializes their ghastly inhumanity, and makes a clever sound-byte out of genocide. Such characterizations and referents make words like "Nazi," "Fascist," "Terrorist" or "Conspirator" virtually devoid of meaning. To ponder before an open mike whether Democrats are somehow responsible for the Chief Justice's seizure is not just irresponsible; it is pathetic. But hey, I am, in most respects, still a fan of Voltaire; I loathe what you're saying, but will [sigh] defend your right to say it. And by the way, Justice Roberts' seizure was idiopathic, which means "of unknown origin," and not, as you would have your listeners or viewers believe, "caused by idiots."
In recent years, American politics -- which has always involved a certain amount of jab, thrust and parry -- has mutated into a full-contact, no-holds-barred melee; a classic, gladiatorial "the ends justify the means" form of warfare. What we have gained from this mutation, this war of hateful words and purposive rebuke is highly questionable. What we have lost is obvious: our ability to admit or understand the humanity of those with whom we disagree.
We close with the second stanza of Tom Lehrer's ode to Dr. Braun. For here, we find what I fear is the underlying attitude of all those media figures who continually drop verbal buzz-bombs on the soil of American credibility:
"Some say that he's hypocritical,
Rather, say that he's apolitical.
'Vunce 'da rockets go up
Who cares vhere day come down?
Dat's not my department,'
Says Werner Von Braun."
©Kurt F. Stone 2007
Vunce they go down into the gutter, who cares how they get out!
Posted by: Alan Weiss | August 02, 2007 at 05:51 PM