In Lewis Carroll’s 1871 poem “Jabberwocky,” the author makes a case against pretentious Victorian poetry by using nonsense verse, neologisms and mockery in an implausible tale of an imaginary creature, the Jabberwock. It is a delightful exercise in creative poetry and has entertained generations of devoted readers, including children.
Contemporary readers need look no further than the state of affairs in American politics to find apocryphal politicians who closely resemble Lewis’s imaginary creature.
In the halls of legislatures and government institutions are advocates of alternate facts, authors of specious social and political arguments and quarrelsome individuals who celebrate the nonsense that the Jabberwock embraced.
Writers of prose and poetry are often champions of the principle of freedom of speech.
It is a common belief in many democratic societies that there is an equilibrium in the affairs of men that fosters trust, respect and mutual understandings, and which allows us to freely voice our opinions without the filter of the government in the exercise of free speech.
America is at a crossroads in that practice. The First Amendment to our Constitution is being tested. A pillar of that amendment has been a free press. It is my opinion that the news media should report the news, not make the news. The exceptions should be the opinion departments.
We witness this every evening on the television news. Some television network news programs fail the smell test when they conflate news and opinion. It ceases to be news and becomes entertainment. Viewers may not be aware that a news commentator may be offering an opinion and may not necessarily be impartial.
The printed media is less guilty of similar lapses but examples can be found to illustrate my point.
Gone are the noble and trusted members of network news, such as Walter Cronkite, Edward R. Murrow, Chet Huntley, Cokie Roberts, Tom Brokaw and David Brinkley. They are replaced with an army of political spin merchants who peddle conspiracy theories, repeat the mantra of “fake news,” insult our intelligence, and threaten the foundations of our free press with disingenuous and sophomoric platitudes.
We have a controversial president and a politically divided Congress and electorate. Strong opinions control the discussion and political partisanship is so strongly entrenched that little progress is being made in accommodating divergent views and opinions. He who shouts the loudest often draws the largest crowds. P.T. Barnum proved the point.
In the last general election I voted for Hillary Clinton. My vote was not an enthusiastic endorsement of Clinton but an expression of apathy and repudiation of Trump. I vote according to the advice that my conscience dictates, not my political party affiliation. It is not a novel idea and I suggest that others should consider that approach when voting.
More and more people are growing tired of the constant bickering and complaining about president Trump. He won the election. He did not steal it. He knows how to count Electoral College votes.
It is time to take a step back and reflect on who and what we have become as a nation before it creates an unrepairable political schism that serves no national purpose.
Passions run high in both political camps. The acrimony, mud-slinging and vitriol have become so personal and abusive that they threaten to dissolve the bonds of mutual respect that unite us.
There is a general election this year and we will have an opportunity to decide on the political direction our country is going to pursue. Once we settle on who will be our next president, let us then move on, celebrate the principles of our Constitution and restrain the impulses of partisan rancor.
(Jim Baer lives in Concord.)