Elections are perhaps the most sacred element of our democracy.
They are also one of its ugliest.
The national party machines employ legions of people whose only
mission in life is to destroy their political opponents by whatever
means possible. The hit pieces both parties use is often shameful.
Dredging up President Bush’s behavior in college during the 2000
election was silly. What was your behavior like when you were 21?
And Karl Rove’s ruthless attack on Kerry, thinly disguised as
”
Swiftboat Veterans,
”
was inexcusable. Decorated war veterans deserve more respect
than that.
Elections are perhaps the most sacred element of our democracy. They are also one of its ugliest.
The national party machines employ legions of people whose only mission in life is to destroy their political opponents by whatever means possible. The hit pieces both parties use is often shameful. Dredging up President Bush’s behavior in college during the 2000 election was silly. What was your behavior like when you were 21? And Karl Rove’s ruthless attack on Kerry, thinly disguised as “Swiftboat Veterans,” was inexcusable. Decorated war veterans deserve more respect than that.
However we feel about our political adversaries, we need to understand that they, like you, are acting out of the genuine best interest of our nation and our communities. Political debate is healthy. It clarifies individual positions and ideologies so that voters are better able to make informed decisions at the ballot box.
But the ruthlessness of personal attacks must end if we are to hold out any hope of reuniting our nation and our communities. Personal attacks distract from the real issues. When someone is personally insulted, you will either snicker or fume, depending on which side of the fence you stand. But the result is the same: You fail to listen.
The Pinnacle is taking a break from Kate Woods’ Badlands column. As much as her razor wit is able to delight or anger readers, we are moving into an election season, and we want Pinnacle readers to be neither delighted nor angry – we want them to take the issues seriously and to listen in earnest to the various messages the candidates portend.
The most contentious, tawdry drama in our region now involves the network of lawsuits filed by the anonymous group that dubbed itself Los Valientes against San Benito County and many of its officials. Senior reporter Woods has written more than 80 stories about the issue. Last week’s report, in which a number of people were identified by the district attorney as members of the group, contained several inaccuracies. We set the record straight on page 1 of this edition.
If we intend to hold politicians to such lofty standards, we need to conduct our own affairs in a manner that leaves us above reproach. As the Los Valientes lawsuit moves toward its conclusion, Woods has agreed to move to cover Gilroy and the South Valley, where most of our readers reside. The Pinnacle will continue to vigorously follow the story, even as we continue to hope for a just conclusion.
The popularity of talk show bigmouths like Rush Limbaugh and Michael Savage on the right, and Al Franken on the left serve not to inform, rather merely to incite. Who listens to Savage? Conservatives. And Franken? Liberals. All they are able to do is fire up their own bases. Inciting is easy; communicating is more difficult and listening to opposing points of view with an open mind is the hardest of all.
Civil debate needs to return to our political dialogue. At stake is our very democracy. Throughout history, coming together for the greater good has fostered the great successes of our nation. When we are paralyzed as we are today by rabid partisanship, we are unable to move forward to collectively meet and overcome our challenges. It’s as true in Washington as it is in Morgan Hill, Gilroy and Hollister. Together we stand, separate we fall.
We are asking all candidates to stop with the underhanded smear campaigns. Simply stop. The Pinnacle is leading the way with policy decisions that will allow everyone to take the high road. Incendiary political commentary is taking a hiatus. Further, soon after the candidacy filing period is closed, we intend to ask candidates to pledge that they will run above-board campaigns rooted in issues and achievements rather than character assassination.
In its place, we simply ask everyone to be thoughtful about the issues, respectful toward one another and to remember that cooperation is the keystone that keeps our communities from collapsing.
