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BIG CITY: All silly, all the time

Posted on May 17, 2012May 17, 2012 by Staff

By Kirk Ross

There used to be a period of time that pundits dubbed the “silly season” in politics. Usually it was in reference to the lull in August just before a big election when congress was out of session and the ensuing news vacuum meant little stories could blow up.

It was a term that implied that there was some complementary season of seriousness and that the ordinarily mature and reasoned individuals who run the country engaged in such silliness only during short intervals when they had to appeal to the masses for a return ticket to the Capitol.

The combination of 24-hour cable news and the installation of permanent mud-slinging machines have pretty much flipped things. It’s all silly, all the time now. There’s hardly enough seriousness left in politics for a weekend marathon. And, of course, what really goes on isn’t silly at all. In fact, if you’re on the business end of a politically motivated budget cut or witch hunt, it’s downright awful.

Last year, we saw an extraordinary example of how polarized and paralyzed our political system has become via the serial brinksmanship that put people in real peril while their elected leaders fired platitudes at each other and refused to negotiate. In the end, nothing much changed, and a lot of people, like the millions whose unemployment benefits were held up, took the hit.

One of the things that came out of last year’s mess was an agreement that if a bigger deal didn’t get done, drastic cuts to defense and social programs would take effect.

Naturally, the bigger deal didn’t get done, and the people who agreed to those nasty cuts are balking at their own decision. The U.S. House, still gripped by tea fever, has decided that those defense cuts might somehow harm the nation (and various reelection chances) and has passed a plan to shift most of the cuts to programs for people in poverty. The thinking there I guess is that more people will go hungry, but they can comfort themselves knowing there will be enough modern jet fighters and tanks to prevent a foreign enemy from interrupting their despair.

Having recently returned from another long journey through the parts of our state hard hit by the recession after years of job losses and economic decline, I can tell you than none of the homeless veterans I talked to expressed the concern that their food assistance was undermining our military readiness.

The poor in this country don’t seem to be of any use to the political system anymore except as theater props. It’s hard not to get cynical about it after watching politicians blame their opponents for high unemployment and then turn around and vote to cut benefits for the people behind the statistic.

This election will be fought over the fate of the very wealthy and the middle class, two groups of people who do not include day-to-day survival on their list of anxieties.

Like every other major election cycle, there will be a point where serious discussion cannot occur, when the horserace is all that matters and every bit of real news won’t be seen for what it is but for how it affects the chances of one candidate or the other. My guess is we’re already at that point.

Here in North Carolina, which is still considered a battleground state, the obsession over how what happens here plays into the presidential contest is coloring every decision out of Raleigh.

When the legislature returns this week they’ll still be faced with the same problems they had when they adjourned last year — the state’s finances are in a mess, and too many North Carolinians are unemployed. But there’s no indication that the General Assembly will suddenly veer from its philosophy that we can get out of crisis through harsh budget cuts and playing the same incentive game played by every other struggling state.

There’s no room for fresh ideas or common purpose in these debates. There’s no need for them when the only real day-to-day worry for those in our political class is how to get to all the scheduled fundraisers.

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