COMMENTARY
Darrell Ehrlick: Screaming our way to insanity
By Darrell Ehrlick Winona Daily News | Posted: Sunday, September 4, 2011 12:00 am | 1 Comment
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Has screaming at a congressman ever really made a point? Has it helped?
Have you ever heard a member of Congress say, "You know what really made me vote differently? When some nameless audience member screamed me stupid."
Has shaking your head or rolling your eyes ever made a fact untrue?
Rhetorical questions, really.
And so my father - the man I once thought to be the most clueless man I'd ever met - turns out to be right again. Of course, I still wouldn't let him know that.
He always said, "You catch more flies with honey than vinegar."
I realize my old man wasn't the first to coin the cliche.
He wasn't right because he often repeated the old bit of wisdom; he was right because he knew how to use it.
He knew asking for something nicely and respectfully often achieved better results. He also earned the reputation of being a gentlemen - an added bonus in these uncivil times.
So when I read about the shabby treatment U.S. Rep. Ron Kind received at a listening session in West Salem, Wis., I was sadly not shocked and not surprised.
This isn't a column rallying to Kind's defense. This sort of thing has become fairly commonplace as more people accuse their members of Congress of not listening.
Pot meet the kettle.
When Kind tried to provide some statistics from a nonpartisan branch of government - the Congressional Budget Office - people scoffed and rolled their eyes.
Still, the CBO remains one of the few solid, reliable and, ahem, nonpartisan sources of information in the Beltway.
It's ironic that so many people seem fed up with members of Congress not listening and not compromising when they themselves sit in audiences that seem hellbent to mock, cajole and not listen.
Everywhere you go, these same out-of-touch politicians are screamed at, mocked and booed by people who are unwilling to accept any facts that don't agree with their gut.
When do the politicians get to fight back?
Maybe what members of Congress should do is make a mandatory test about how government works before people can get into these listening sessions or town halls.
If we expect something of our leaders, maybe they should expect something in return.
It seems we all have pretty strong feelings about what our members of Congress should be doing or aren't doing. But how many of us know how a budget is put together? Or the difference between entitlement spending versus discretionary? Or how inflation-based budgeting can mean a program gets an increase in funding, but that might also represent a cut? Or even the difference between the Legislature and Congress - something often confused in letters to the editor.
The point isn't just that some of these shrill critics at meetings wind up looking stupid when they choose to tsk-tsk facts. It's that many of these people are ... well, if not stupid, woefully and sometimes almost proudly uninformed.
It's as if knowledge itself is a conspiracy.
When does knowledge and understanding become as virtuous as action for today's patriot?
It may be true the only thing Americans can agree on is that no one is happy with the direction the country is going. But how many crises and tough times have we gotten through by just yelling our way out?
That's what I thought.
Ehrlick is Winona Daily News editor and associate editor of the River Valley Newspaper Group. He can be contacted by phone at 507-453-3507 or via email at darrell.ehrlick@lee.net
Copyright 2011 winonadailynews.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Have you ever heard a member of Congress say, "You know what really made me vote differently? When some nameless audience member screamed me stupid."
Has shaking your head or rolling your eyes ever made a fact untrue?
Rhetorical questions, really.
And so my father - the man I once thought to be the most clueless man I'd ever met - turns out to be right again. Of course, I still wouldn't let him know that.
He always said, "You catch more flies with honey than vinegar."
I realize my old man wasn't the first to coin the cliche.
He wasn't right because he often repeated the old bit of wisdom; he was right because he knew how to use it.
He knew asking for something nicely and respectfully often achieved better results. He also earned the reputation of being a gentlemen - an added bonus in these uncivil times.
So when I read about the shabby treatment U.S. Rep. Ron Kind received at a listening session in West Salem, Wis., I was sadly not shocked and not surprised.
This isn't a column rallying to Kind's defense. This sort of thing has become fairly commonplace as more people accuse their members of Congress of not listening.
Pot meet the kettle.
When Kind tried to provide some statistics from a nonpartisan branch of government - the Congressional Budget Office - people scoffed and rolled their eyes.
Still, the CBO remains one of the few solid, reliable and, ahem, nonpartisan sources of information in the Beltway.
It's ironic that so many people seem fed up with members of Congress not listening and not compromising when they themselves sit in audiences that seem hellbent to mock, cajole and not listen.
Everywhere you go, these same out-of-touch politicians are screamed at, mocked and booed by people who are unwilling to accept any facts that don't agree with their gut.
When do the politicians get to fight back?
Maybe what members of Congress should do is make a mandatory test about how government works before people can get into these listening sessions or town halls.
If we expect something of our leaders, maybe they should expect something in return.
It seems we all have pretty strong feelings about what our members of Congress should be doing or aren't doing. But how many of us know how a budget is put together? Or the difference between entitlement spending versus discretionary? Or how inflation-based budgeting can mean a program gets an increase in funding, but that might also represent a cut? Or even the difference between the Legislature and Congress - something often confused in letters to the editor.
The point isn't just that some of these shrill critics at meetings wind up looking stupid when they choose to tsk-tsk facts. It's that many of these people are ... well, if not stupid, woefully and sometimes almost proudly uninformed.
It's as if knowledge itself is a conspiracy.
When does knowledge and understanding become as virtuous as action for today's patriot?
It may be true the only thing Americans can agree on is that no one is happy with the direction the country is going. But how many crises and tough times have we gotten through by just yelling our way out?
That's what I thought.
Ehrlick is Winona Daily News editor and associate editor of the River Valley Newspaper Group. He can be contacted by phone at 507-453-3507 or via email at darrell.ehrlick@lee.net
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