The resident faculty here at Blogistan Polytechnic Institute were singing as they made their way from the wine cellar library where they spent the weekend drinking thinking on our motto of Magis vinum, magis verum ("More wine, more truth") to the hot tub faculty lounge for their weekly game where the underwear goes flying planning conference. Sadly, Bonnie Tyler isn't among our resident faculty. Worse, the resident faculty were singing in at least one minor key.
More below the fold....
First the good news, our customary thank-yous to last week's guest lecturers. Last Tuesday, Professor of Neuroholdemology Caractacus took a different slant on his weekly offering with a Weekly Reaction reminiscent of the original Morning Reaction series from which Morning Feature was born. Last Wednesday, Professor of Mediamaternity theKgirls thanked our teachers by sharing a beautiful and touching photobook she and her girls made for the girls' teachers. If you missed either, please do read them.
Tomorrow, Caractacus returns with his Things We Learned This Week series, to discuss one or more of the following: insights on the Michelin restaurant guide, giftedness and intelligence, or whether David Brooks' latest columns mark a sea change or the old adage that even a stopped clock is correct twice a day. As always, Chef will be present in spirit with breakfast treats despite never having been mentioned in the Michelin restaurant guide, and the Professor of Astrology Janitor will be absent in mind despite having Michelin tires.
Note: We currently have no guest lecturer scheduled for Wednesday, December 2nd, nor for any Wednesday following. If you would like to guest host Morning Feature, please volunteer in a comment below. Otherwise you'll be stuck with the resident faculty ...
... and apparently the resident faculty are not happy. Ms. Tyler's song, originally on the soundtrack for for the 1984 film Footloose and later released on her album Secret Dreams and Forgotten Fire, could well be the anthem of the modern progressive movement. For many, it seems, President Obama is manifestly not that hero. Last week's R2K/DKos polling data suggests many Democrats will be holding out for someone else in 2010.
So it seems the resident faculty will talk about Hero Narratives, why we are drawn to them, how they can inspire us, but also how they can lead to unrealistic expectations, disappointment, and self-defeating despair. The reality is that Huey G. (for Gandhi) Hercules wasn't on any ballot for any office last November, and won't be in November 2010 or November 2012. Holding out for a hero who can stride into River City and smack down every entrenched interest we progressives oppose is about as realistic as citing The Two Jacks (Ryan and Bauer) in a debate about U.S. intelligence policy.
As Professor Karen Johnson-Cartee writes in News Narratives and News Framing: Constructing Political Reality:
During the past sixty years, the news media have increasingly portrayed the political process as individual leaders involved in hotly-contested games, where strategy is king. [Cites omitted] Reporters depict political leaders as "scheming" manipulators intent on winning at any cost; however their efforts to win aren't based on any high-minded public service ideals. Rather, they are shown to be in it for their own aggrandizement and their greed in ever-increasing political capital....
Capella and Jamieson have argued that the strategy frame increases cynicism among voters, often provoking hostile responses. "The reaction of individuals exposed to such frames is to mistrust the intentions of political elites and, perhaps, reinterpret and recoil against their perspectives." [....]
Numerous research studies have found that with the increase in game framing in campaign news coverage, numerous corresponding consequences have resulted:
- Decline in civic participation at all levels of political activity.
- Decline in voting.
- Increased cynicism toward the government.
- Depressed political engagement or interest.
- Increased political alienation.
- Suppressed information retention about public issues and political campaigns.
In short, if we think politics is all a game and We the People are helpless subjects of The Powers That Be, in need of a Hero whose pure intentions alone would save us ... we're very likely to be disappointed and give up.
And then The Powers That Be win. Again.
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Happy Monday!