The most relevant portion of the article (for this entry) is as follows:Stapleton himself was later attacked on state and national blogs after the Great Falls Tribune reported a joke he made that "no one in the Negro caucus" objected to the Legislature working on Martin Luther King Day.
Matt Singer of the blog "Left in the West," called the remarks "deeply, racially insensitive."
Stapleton said he was frustrated by the media attention, especially from bloggers, whom he calls the "angry, unaccountable, anonymous media."
"We change our language that we choose almost as frequently as we change the passwords on our laptop," Stapleton says. "We've just learned to hide our differences in political correctness."
Criticism by liberal blogs does more harm to a citizen legislature like Montana's, Stapleton says, than to professional politicians. "It dissuades average, moral people from wanting to get involved." I was angry last night when I read this -- it was a confluence of stressors at the time (I don't blame Stapleton for that as there is simply no way he had any idea that he made these comments during a rough week for me; this stuff just happens). On reflection, I think I understand both where Sen. Stapleton is coming from and also why his comments bother me so much.
Over the past four or five years, I've dedicated a lot of time and energy to make politics more accessible to real people -- from encouraging others to start writing their opinions in public to adopting new software to let anyone post their opinions in a diary on my own site. I've started an organzation whose mission is to get people more involved in politics.
And in the same story where I'm (incorrectly) accused of being unaccountable and anonymous (I'm neither; although I'll plead guilty to the 'angry' charge), the man who says I dissuade involvement admits to attacking Sam Kitzenberg's integrity on the first day of the session and says that the response to his Martin Luther King, Jr., Day comments (when he used the term 'Negro' and compared MLK's importance to that of Puxatowny Phil, the groundhog) was overblown and unfair. The fact that he recently made a blanket statement accusing the majority of Montanans who oppose escalation in Iraq of being unpatriotic and unsupportive of the troops doesn't even get mentioned.
What angers me in this interview is what I think of as Senator Corey Stapleton's clear double standard -- that it is fine for him to attack other's integrity, belittle their race or heroes, and question their patriotism. When he -- the leader of his party in the state legislature -- does this, there are no ill effects. He's simply playing the game.
When I do it, meanwhile (and I'll admit to writing things over the years that I'm not proud of), I'm hurting democracy.
I just don't buy it.
In fairness to Senator Stapleton, though, I think people -- both in Montana and across the country -- are sick of the sort of partisanship that both he and I probably practice more often than we should. That's one of the reasons why when he accused myself and others of being unpatriotic, I asked advice from some people, took a deep breath, and asked for an apology, rather than moving to denounce immediately.
I'm not sure that I support Barack Obama for President, but I do know that I think he's right when he says that our problems aren't too big, but that our politics has become too small. We rarely see leadership any more -- from the blogs or from elected officials. We see people playing leaders. And by we, I mean you, dear reader, because I often worry that I'm as much a part of the problem as I am part of the solution.
With that, I'd actually like to thank Senator Stapleton for reminding me that I have some obligation in this process -- to work harder to treat my opponents with respect.
Despite the reminder, have no doubt I'll falter again. The smart money says I'm only human. |
