columns | contact | links |
Shut Up And Listen 170 Bullshit Debates I didn't watch the federal election debates on Monday and Tuesday this week. On Monday it was the French-language debate and on Tuesday, it was the English-language one. I did want to see the latter though, but I was out having dinner with friends while it was one, so I had to miss it. But no big loss, as I'm not a big fan of political debates. They're basically bullshit. I mean, come on, what we have are three or four politicians put up on a stage trying to basically win people's approval. It's pure and utter bullshit. All of the little "fights" and "verbal beat-downs" are tame, watered-down versions of what they should be. Honestly, the best political debate I've ever seen is the one in that Chris Rock movie Head Of State. That was a debate where the two characters acted like real people, not power-hungry politicians. You know, they interrupted one another, insulted each other, and shit like that. To me, a great debate would at some point break down into two people having this exact exchange: Person 1: You know what? Fuck you! Person 2: No, fuck you! Person 1: Fuck you! Person 2: Fuck you! Because we all know that's what they want to do. How can they not be on that stage hearing one another say shit they obviously don't agree with and not want to just turn to their opponent and say, "What the fuck did you just say? Did you think before you speak or do you honestly believe that bullshit that just came out of your mouth? Just shut the fuck up!" Of course, for reasons of "politeness" they can't do that and that rather annoys me. I don't want to view these people answer simple questions or give gentle critiques of one another that only seem harsh because they're as harsh as the critiques they'll give are. Their little critiques are always tame and merely a shade of what you know they want to say. Really, why shouldn't they be allowed to? Because there's a group of people out there who are a little squeamish about language? Because they're somehow supposed to be above such things? What a bunch of bullshit. I find it funny that people say the fact that politicians lie is a big flaw of them, but if they actually were honest and said what they really think, they wouldn't stand a chance. Politicians lie and pander because that's the only way to win. Of course, that does leave an option open to parties like the NDP and Green Party (who weren't invited to participate in the debate, I should add, despite running candidates in every riding in the country) which are essentially protest parties that really don't have a big hope of winning. Oh, they'll say otherwise publicly, but we all know and they really know, that's just posturing. They don't stand a chance of getting a majority in government anytime soon, and that gives them tremendous power that they just won't utilise. They have the power to act like protest parties. I've often said that the biggest problem with the NDP is that they're the party with the politics that appeals to young people, but always run candidates who are old (forty and up) when really they should be running angry twenty-somethings. They should be sticking out people who act like they just came out of a protest and are willing to call what the old politicians spew out bullshit. They're not going to win, so they should act as the voice of Truth. But that's just my opinion and I don't think anyone would ever do it sadly. Anyways, I hate debates. They're fake and they're not worth my time. We should demand better. We should demand honesty and not punish people for it. Next week: anywhere from one to four interviews with candidates from my riding. I e-mailed them all last night and so far, the candidate for the Green Party has agreed. |