Sleepycatz

Tabloid Democracy

It seems that everyone is aghast at the exploits of fmr congressman’s Foley’s pederasty. While there is some gratification in seeing those who fed our tabloid democracy becoming victims of it, the overall effect does little to benefit our republic. Foley’s actions were certainly, if not criminal, unethical, and he should, and has been forced to resign. Those who either covered up those actions, or looked the other way, should also resign.

For the past several years corruption in our government has become so commonplace that it has become accepted as the norm by most people. The fact that people are paying attention to Foley’s peccadillo only underscores the the acceptance of corruption in our systems. Little attention has been paid the rampant corruption in either the CPA or the ongoing corruption in Iraq. These frauds have greatly contributed to the instability in Iraq, costing thousands of lives, billions of dollars, and incalculable loss to America’s reputation. Yet, there has been little consistent discussion of these issues; instead, our attentions are too easily drawn to salacious little scandals in which one man or another is found to have let his lust overstep good judgement or the law.

America has always been fascinated by personal political scandals, going back further then Alexander Hamilton’s affair with Maria Reynolds. Today, however, this singular focus on sensationalist events has turned our democracy into a tabloid sideshow — equipped with its own psychics and celebrities. Medias and politicians feed this circus to gain a political edge and distract people from larger systemic corruptions. A corrupt individual may be a problem, but it is far less problematic then a system of corruptions.

Corruption has been the rotting root of nearly every fallen government in history: from the Roman emperors to the Soviet state. It remains to be seen whether America has the will power to divert its attention from the hotpants’d, leather-clad, scandal du jour to the broader corruptions which effect the future of our nation today. Personally, I have my doubts.

This entry was posted by steve on Wednesday, October 4th, 2006 at 1:50 pm and is filed under Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.