Staring Out

Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody’s face but their own, which is the chief reason for that kind of reception it meets in the world, and that so very few are offended with it.

—Jonathan Swift

I’m hoping that a lot of the satire and political lampooning that we see around us is a ticking time-barb because, sadly, its effect seems not to be anything like instantaneous. As parents, teachers and friends, we like to think that our friendly advice or sharp comment will have an immediate effect, which, of course, it doesn’t always, but it is sad to think that by the time some of the satire and political comment sinks in with the general electorate, we will likely be a couple of election cycles down the road. It isn’t guaranteed, either, that patterns of misconduct will have become clear to the point where the electorate will be able to anticipate the consequences of electing secretive fraudsters and be involved enough to ensure that an alternative path remains open. What is it about the shameful bunch who inhabit the government benches in Victoria and Ottawa that deadens the mind of the collective constituent mind to the point where said clowns can be serially re-elected and continue the pattern of malfeasance? What is it about the process of organizing society that is so much less compelling than the latest hero of reality television? Does Kevin Krueger ever bother to look at the videos of his rants? Does Rich Coleman ever consider the golden rule as he sloughs of question after question and changes the subject? Does Vic Toews ever grasp the notion of irony when it comes to internet information? Do Harper and Co. ever have twinges of conscience about the systematic sacking and looting of humanity’s heritage and prospects for survival and the wilful coverups they perpetrate to expedite continued bad behaviour? I really like Darryl Cagle’s Cartoon site: I don’t like all the cartoons, but I understand that progressives need to take shots, even some not warranted, but I do like the forum.

This phenomenon goes hand-in-glove with the curse of Cassandra: to be forced to tell the truth to which no one will listen, a phenom that must be felt acutely by the Mary Mackies, the Robin Matthews, the Norm Farrells, the NVGs, the Lailas, the Grant E.s, et al who not only comment on current affairs, but to root out the evidence of the constant stream of hanky-panky  and footsie being played by elected representatives and leaders of the business community.

In either case, it seems exceedingly rare that either informed commentary or satire influences the “thinking” of those entrusted with the most sacred trust and who seem bent on doing the maximum amount of moral, intellectual and economic damage in the shortest interval.

I once relied on the CBC as a major source of news, less for commentary, still less for entertainment. Largely, I perceived of the network as a unifying source of information and culture working for the greater good of Canada. Since I became aware of its existence on arrival in Canada in my late teen years, it always had a small, if important place in my listening (and, to some extent viewing) life. It became clear, though, something less than a decade ago, that there was a shift on the way, as the leadership began to explore options to widen the “fan” base by appealing to a “younger demographic”, signalling, of course, that the CBC would embark of a ratings war with commercial radio, likely to generate new sources of funding through advertising. What fool could entertain the thought that a federal bureaucracy could achieve the same level of pandering that we see in commercial radio and television, especially when they had simultaneous pretensions of holding onto their greying, more high-brow audience? This was an ill-defined mission that was doomed to failure, except inasmuch as successive governments in Ottawa and elsewhere would love to have seen the entire demise of public broadcasting, leaving the field entirely open to the business of mass-media marketing and removing an admittedly costly structure from the Federal books. This thinking has spawned such gems as George Strombolopolous, various iterations of the Dragon’s Den, Heartland, and Little Mosque on the Prairie, in effect, something to offend everyone and certainly nothing compelling enough to wean viewers away from commercial drama, entertainment or “reality” shows. Even in radio, where things seemed somehow more stable, there has been almost a fetish for some version of Fox News’ “fair and balanced”, where even nut jobs get a turn at the microphone and where a news item can be lost in flurries of rhetoric. Those empaneled for discussions on current affairs are inevitably skewed to the right of the political spectrum, and often old warhorses are trotted out in inappropriate circumstances to editorialize where they may have little expertise other than the ability to fork over reams of rhetorical flashes from stupendous vocabularies with the caveat that most of it is sound and fury signifying nothing. Discussions on political items often fail to address the most obvious consequences of actions while dwelling over-long on facets of style or bits of pronouncements from august figures designed mostly to throw up a cloud of distraction rather than to shed light on the question. Often, the questions themselves entirely miss the point of what is being done.

In addition, there has been the kind of compression of resources such that the same report will be aired in both audio and visual versions, and that current affairs and consumer programming often seems to find its way into newscasts. There also is the phenomenon of fascination with the trivial and the sensational, reviving old events and controversies while avoiding substantive current events. The reinforcement of the current government attempt to militarize everything shows in the immense coverage dedicated to the Governor General’s attendance at the 95th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge with the suggestion that this was the moment that forged a nation rather than letting it go to the centennial and reflecting on how little we’ve learned as we continue to pursue wars of empire. There has also been an unpardonable excess of coverage of the centennial of the sinking of the Titanic, a disaster and a tribute to human hubris, but not so big a part of our history that it should be taking any time away from the continued shenanigans being perpetrated on Parliament Hill and in various other national capitals, as well as the ongoing destruction of virtually everything with the connivance of our provincial governments in tandem with the federales. I should also mention Norm Farrell’s ongoing range war with the BC wing of the mothership  (see: about the posting of Stephen Smart to legislative reporting when his wife works for the current administration and where there appears to be something of a conflict of interest, though the very term conflict of interest seems increasingly to engender more shrugs than outrage, a sure sign that much damage has been done to political consciousness and for part of which damage the CBC has much to answer.

I loved Andy Borowitz’ quip that Cheney got a new heart and that Bush was still waiting for a brain, but there was another angle that struck me even before Andy sent me into peals of laughter. I was just wondering whether Cheney might be ready for a Seussian epiphany à la Grinch, whose heart might have been three sizes too small, though it seems more likely that Dick would prefer to carve up Syria and Iran than the proverbial roast beast, and it’s frightening to think what might be his reaction to Cindy-Loo Who…