Celebrity politics, the flip side of demagoguery and cynicism

California Gov. Jerry Brown, Inaugural Address 01/03/2011:

Without the trust of the people, politics degenerates into mere spectacle; and democracy declines, leaving demagoguery and cynicism to fill the void.

Human rights attorney Scott Horton 10/06/2011 (A Snapshot from the Age of Distraction No Comment):

We have created an environment in which scrutiny of political candidates is superficial, and in which candidates can get away with knowing only enough about critical issues to fill a three-by-five-inch filing card. Illiteracy about key economic issues is widespread, and vacuous, simplistic formulations are put forth without being challenged or parsed. Bogus claims about history are made without shame or correction. That would be a fair summary of the televised debates, which offer little actual debating and are often packaged to resemble a television game show. Is America going about picking presidential candidates the way viewers choose their favorite contestants on "American Idol"? America today faces the very real prospect of a double-dip recession, and is deeply enmeshed in two land wars in the Middle East (one of which marks its first decade this week) that are unpopular but that our political elites don’t want to discuss. It faces the prospect of a "lost generation" of un- and underemployed youth. But our political culture continues to avoid vital issues. Instead, we are treated to political tragicomedy.

Tags: jerry brown, scott horton, third subject

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