As former President George W. Bush once famously stated, "being President is hard." I hear a lot of strong opinions on how Bush was supposedly the worst President in history. Though many of my views diverged significantly from his, I never would've called him the "worst President in history." Bush made decisions during some very trying times; some were good, some were bad, and that's how governing works.
Harsh judgments are already being made about President Obama. Critics and skeptics alike are imposing incredible scrutiny over Obama's governance. Already, there are people from the other side of the fence that fervently label Mr. Obama "the worst President," just as many did with Bush. Over the past decade or two, the American public has become increasingly hostile and divided towards its leadership in Washington.
Are these growing frustrations with the American public really justified? Has American leadership really gone through a steady decline to warrant such growing dissatisfaction among Americans? I don't think so. I think these growing sentiments of division and unrest have more to do with the ever growing pervasiveness of the American media in our lives.
The past couple decades have seen an incredible surge in the role of news media in our daily lives. Long ago, news was only available at noon, 6 pm, and 11 pm. Then came the 24-hour news channels. Then came the news talk shows. Then came all the political commentators. Then came folks like Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, who blended news with entertainment. Then came the ability to get news updates via e-mail, mobile devices, Twitter, etc. The American people are as connected as ever with the happenings in Washington.
Consequently, decisionmakers in Washington are held far more accountable than ever before. The increasing pervasiveness of American media, coupled with a growing distrust of Washington, have faciliated an atmosphere where lawmakers are held hostage to immediate public appeasement. Sure, the media has pushed transparency in Washington to an unprecedented level. But, is this full transparency really a good thing for Americans?
We hear the word "democracy" thrown around a lot when describing the United States and its governing bodies. Sure, we were founded on principles of liberty and democracy. But, the United States of America is a republic. We elect and send folks to Washington, based on the trust that we have in their judgment and their ability to lead for our own interests. The fundamental idea of a republic is that important and complex decisions are not made, based on the whims of the petty and uneducated masses, but by the careful consideration and judgment exercised by the wise leaders that we elect.
The increasing pervasiveness of American media has undermined our governance as a republic. More and more, lawmakers resort to polls over common sense when making critical decisions. More and more, folks in Washington are pulled into having to take sides on issues that they have no business dealing with, because they're afraid of what the public might think if they remain quiet. The United States is becoming a populist society.
How else do you explain Washington's reaction to the AIG bonus debacle? How else do you explain why federal lawmakers try to step in and tell states how to define their marriages? How else do you explain when things like Proposition 8 in California subject the fundamental rights of an entire class of people to a popular vote?
Here's how it works. Fox News makes a big deal about some incident in some random small town in the middle of nowhere. This incident will involve one of the following buzzwords: "religion," "homosexuality," "abortion," "stem cells," "sex," etc... They'll blow this up into some huge national controversy. People will freak out and be like "OMG, I don't want this shit happening in my hometown!" Congressmen will take sides on the issue. And, then, they'll try to pass federal legislation on issues that should've been addressed at the locality of incident.
For some reason, we've been bred in this culture in which we defer our moral convictions and responsibilities to Washington. We don't allow individual communities to make their own decisions on what is socially acceptable. Instead of fixing schools from the bottom up through community efforts, Washington tries to invest in some new program that is supposed to be a catch-all for all schools around the country. Instead of using state and local governments to propose a solution to universal healthcare, Washington's trying to develop another massive program. Instead of looking to the men and women in our communities who built this country from the ground up, we look to Washington bureaucrats to propose new spending programs to fix our problems. Both Democrats and Republicans are guilty of this. Usually, Democrats are guilty of using Washington for big social spending programs; usually, Republicans are guilty of using Washington to enact their own social standards upon us (gay marriage, abortion, etc.). And, why shouldn't they? After all, from what you see on your preferred 24-hour cable news channel, the world revolves around the know-it-alls in Washington.
The news media has turned Washington into a clusterfuck. And, it's perpetually getting worse. President Obama has been one of the more fortuante and media-savvy politicians who has been able to maintain a good deal of patience and support from the American people. And, he seems to have been able to isolate his decision-making from the need to appease the public and improve polls. I just hope that those in Congress are able to do the same and not govern on popular vote or what Rush Limbaugh says, but govern on a vision of what's best for our country.
