Since wing nuts are currently driving mainstream political discourse, it is worth taking a moment to reflect on the art of wing-nutery. Performance art has never been so popular, and so powerful in American politics. The hoi polloi is in a very cynical state and in order for those with power to relate with such a skeptical audience, they must relate that same cynicism of themselves to themselves. Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly bills himself as other than the mainstream, constantly claiming views that the “mainstream media” do not allow. Meanwhile, in reality he couldn’t be more mainstream. Republican Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann claims her opposition is a tyrannical form of socialism that personifies itself in the form of healthcare legislation. Her outrageous one-liners about the end of America as we know it have gained her much popularity and political sway.
On the Democratic side, freshman Congressman Alan Grayson has had his fair share of wing nut one-liners that the mainstream news gobbled up. Calling a former Enron lobbyist a “K Street whore” or describing on Chris Matthews the blood dripping from Dick Cheney’s teeth.
But are these wing nuts actually nuts? Highly doubtful. Many are highly educated (with some possible exceptions: Sarah Palin, et al.) and wouldn’t be in their current positions without some political and economic smarts. Rep. Grayson, for example, claims to be consciously using the Republican wing nuts’ own tactics against them as a subversive political tactic.
Within a media environment that feeds on sound-bytes and outlandish characters, it’s no wonder how wing nuts have gained enough attention to drive debate, and even kill potential legislation. Combine this with a general cynicism of an elite homogeneous body that buys and sells power to conserve their own elite positions and the popularity of the wing nut is born.
What is of concern is not simply the dumbing down of political discourse, but what is the “self” in this political self-satire. It is not only the individual performing the art of wing-nutery. The wing nut is an outspoken example of the way we view the structure of power in our society as a whole. We continue to make fun of the powerful as if their power is illegitimate. The powerful, in turn, make fun of themselves as if their power is illegitimate. In reality, their power couldn’t be more true. It is a system making fun of itself, willfully exposing its failed structure in order to conserve it. Political candidates’ campaigns criticize politicians as-such in order to become just that. Citizens, in turn, vote in the candidate as to not “waste their vote” on a candidate that is not funded by the elite power structure, conserving the system’s status quo. Meanwhile, we all continue to joke about the illegitimacy of the whole game in a sort of Seinfeld-ian gesture.
Seinfeld’s series finale concluded with the cast of characters sitting in jail for not following New York’s new good Samaritan law. The characters accept their fate while fully acknowledging the absurdity of their situation. In the same way, we continue to acknowledge that our political system is a running joke, but we will do whatever we can to preserve the punchline.
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Just be reminded that one mans wing-nut is another mans preacher et al Reverend Wright. Good piece though.
Love it! Politics as a Theater of the Absurd…spot on!