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Jewish World Review April 6, 2005 / 26 Adar II, 5765 Contra punt By Jay D. Homnick
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
The father of modern TV journalism was Walter Wall, the man who gave us the
great social innovation known as Walter Wall coverage. His famous quote
about his days covering politics rings even more true today: "Every
politician is looking for an angle. Especially if it's a camera angle."
Just kidding: Wall did not actually exist, but we should not allow his
nonexistence to impugn his quote. The man is right.
We generally don't regard this tendency as cause for alarm but rather as a
foible that may be indulged with a chuckle. Let them posture and preen like
peacocks, let them bathe their egos in the salves and oils of fulsome
adulation, if that is the price we must pay for their readiness to gird
their loins and battle for truth when it is under siege. But if they are
going to substitute façade for fact and charade for character, then it is
time to begin tugging on the rope that we have been giving them with
insufficient supervision.
Yes, the story of Terri Schiavo is caught in my craw. I am disappointed
and angered and frustrated and peeved and piqued, not to mention peaked
after two weeks of anguish. My jaw was so tight for days that I was walking
around in constant pain. And this was what the great Republican powerhouses
produced? This was their great act of salvation? Terri is dead and
cremated by a ghoul who refused her parents a lock of her hair, and the
Representatives of our great Republic, gathered in the nation's capital in
special session, did what?
Tom DeLay says that the judiciary will pay for refusing to "participate".
I am not averse to putting judges back in their places, but this time theirs
is only the mouse's share of the blame. The judges are not liable for
DeLay's Speaker having no voice, for his Whip having no sting, for his
majority producing a symphony in B Minor. The Congress brought the ball to
the goal line and then unaccountably punted. Now they want to attach the
stigma of their futility to the judges? I don't think so.
It's like the story of the two men on a camping trip who suddenly see a
bear approaching. One of them immediately sits down and puts on his running
shoes. His friend asks incredulously, "Do you think that you can outrun a
bear?" The first one calmly finishes his knot and replies: "No, but I
think that I can outrun you." Here, too, the Republicans in Congress think
that they don't have to actually save the woman's life to escape the wrath
of their constituency. It's enough to stick the judges in the line of fire.
How very sad. How utterly shallow.
Those Sages in the Mishna warned us, but we were too thick to listen. They
said (Avot 1:10): 'Don't become friendly with politicians.' And then again,
in more detail (ibid 2:3): 'Be cautious with politicians, because they only
act close to a person for their needs, appearing to be friends when it is to
their benefit, but not standing up for a person in his time of crisis.' We
thought we were smarter, they were outmoded, this was a new breed of public
servant. Once again we find that we ignore the advice of those great
teachers at our own peril.
There is really nowhere else to go for people who are committed to
respecting and loving every human life. The closest thing in politics to an
ally for our vision is the Republican Party. Yet the fact still remains
that they are looking for their angle, and especially if it's a camera
angle. They are happy to take the political points by putting on a show of
support for a woman being victimized, but they are loath to dot the I's and
cross the T's to be sure that the woman gets to survive when they're done
saving her. The camera angle turns out to be a parallax, an illusion of the
Congress standing at Terri's side against a cruel fate. The only Olympic
effort here involved the pols vaulting to safety.
It should come as no surprise that Walter Wall got disgusted and quit this
ugly business of covering politics. I hear that he is doing well in the
carpet business. Here again the fact that he does not exist should not
hamper him; he is no more of a zero than those heroes we elected. Or
perhaps we should say Neros, fiddling while Terri was burned. When Nero
died, he said, "Qualis artifex pereo (what an artist they have lost in me)."
And these politicians are certainly the maestros of artifice.
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JWR contributor Jay D. Homnick is the author of many books and essays on Jewish political and religious affairs. Comment by clicking here. © 2005, Jay D. Homnick |
Arnold Ahlert | |||||||||||
