Cable-television shows about politics are often blamed for polarizing Americans. To this way of thinking, they are responsible for much of the incivility of today’s political culture and have made it harder for us to work together to solve our problems.
This concern seems overblown to me. While the shows don’t help, their effect is probably small. The main sources of polarization lie elsewhere (especially, I would argue, in the way that courts have put social issues at the center of national politics).
Hey nimrod, which side keeps constantly suing to try to have the courts overturn established precedent on Roe v. Wade or to curtail the Civil Rights Act? Asshole.
The real problem with the cable-TV shows is that so much of the discussion on them is dumb, one-sided or both. (I trust that readers don’t need me to supply examples.) Their main function seems to be to provide Team Red and Team Blue with their daily talking points and with fresh causes for outrage at the other side. A lot of people seem to like this kind of thing, and it has its place in a robust democracy.
There is a way to elevate the political debate a little bit, though, and it’s simple: One of the cable networks should bring back “Crossfire.” Yes, that’s the CNN show that Jon Stewart attacked in 2004 for “hurting America,” shortly before its 23-year run ended.
Yes, because the real problem in America is not enough cable TV news shows where one side lies, the other side points out the obvious lie, and then the conclusion is "Well, both sides are probably guilty here."
What we need is far fewer cable TV shows and referee calls from the Village, where news is presented as factual, not to fit whatever ideology that happens to be in vogue. The Village is incapable of it. We need less of you pundit jagoffs, not more.
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