If this election has taught anything about American politics it is that Americans have stopped talking to each other and have turned to talking at each other. Outside of universities there is no longer any political discourse. In its place is just a lot of chatter producing a very destructive political process.


If you ever have the pleasure of listening to a party of Israelis talking about Middle East politics one thing is plainly clear. It is not a discussion. It is a shouting match. It is not a place where the best arguments carry sway. It is the loudest argument that gets heard. The "discussions" gradually increase in volume to a point where everyone is shouting there view and no one is listening to any one else's perspective. It doesn't matter who has the best argument, the most experience, wisdom, or background. It just matters who has the most powerful lungs.

American politics has degenerated to a point where intelligent, reasoned arguments no longer matter. This is best exemplified by Gayle Quinnell. Gayle Quinnell is the 75 year old grandmother at the McCain rally who had the microphone taken from her by Senator McCain after she claimed that Barack Obama was an Arab. The strangest part about this very strange event was that even after the event Quinnell stuck to her view without budging. It didn't matter that the candidate himself told her directly that she was wrong. If the candidate himself couldn't convince her of her error, what could? The answer to this; sadly, is that nothing could. Americans have simply tuned out political discussions in favor rigid, black verses white ideology. Rush Limbaugh helped make up her mind and no level of factual evidence was going to change it.

The reason for this can best be described as the Rupert Murdochation of America. Murdoch's strategy for his media empire has always involved a definitive political slant mixed with tabloid sensationalism. The response from his ideological opposition is a shift to the opposite pole. The result is that citizens are not exposed to counter views and well reasoned arguments that challenge one's political perspective. No one has to defend their political position and expand their knowledge in order to improve or modify this defense. They simply tune into their media outlet of choice for confirmation of everything they already believe.

There are plenty of reasons to decry the shift to corporate media and profit at any cost but the biggest casualty is the death of journalism. Americans have yet to adjust to the fact that their mainstream media is not giving them an accurate picture of the world. Even worse, competing mediums such as talk radio prey upon journalism's faults in order to further polarize political discourse. Most Americans simply do not expose themselves to any ideas that expand rather than confirm their belief system. The end result is a political process that is destructive and divisive. In a nation that is already widely divided along cultural and socio-economic lines the political process does far more harm than good. The political process reinforces the political divisions and makes Americans hate each other even more than normal.

The odd contrast to this is what is occurring in English politics. England has seen huge shifts in its political affiliations moving from conservative in the 1980s to labor in the 1990s and now heading back towards the conservatives. It is not rigid politics and fixed positions. There is a great deal of fluidity in English politics with the citizens much more willing to challenge and even punish their politicians for the policies of the British government. In numerous BBC polls, the average English subject knows far more about the political ideologies of both sides than does the average American citizen.

The peculiar fact about England is that it has dealt with Rupert Murdoch style journalism for decades. Englanders have simply gotten used to it and the number of English subjects that read more than one daily far surpasses their American counterparts. England has had 40 years to adjust to the polarization of its media and this has allowed them to be far more knowledgeable about their own government and political process. Maybe Americans just need a few more decades to get used to the tabloid style of political journalism and the simple fact that neither Rush Limbaugh nor Jon Stewart has an absolute corner on the truth.