Since making the switch from cable to satellite TV a few months ago I’ve discovered that watching the Documentary Channel is one of my new guilty pleasures. Last night I checked out: Al Franken: God Spoke, a somewhat rambling 2006 documentary highlighting Franken’s short-lived foray into the world of talk radio through the now defunct Air America Radio program and his support of the Kerry/Edwards campaign in 2004. While the film itself was unfortunately about as successful as both Air America Radio and the Kerry/Edwards campaign, Franken’s run-ins with conservative arch-rivals Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity and Bill O’Reilly proved to be some of the most entertaining, although inherently depressing parts of the film.
Back in 2004 I was a single working mom with a thirteen year old son and I must confess that I was far less cognizant of the political climate during that period than I am today. As a lifelong Democrat, I voted (rather unenthusiastically I’m afraid) for John Kerry but was not otherwise very politically involved or aware. Al Franken was familiar to me only as a figure from his Saturday Night Live days; Ann Coulter and Sean Hannity were completely unknown to me and Bill O’Reilly was a television personality with whom I was vaguely familiar but completely unimpressed. O’Reilly simply struck me as a slightly more refined Rush Limbaugh type character that just didn’t seem worth my time. So, the bitter feud and resulting lawsuit between O’Reilly and Franken revealed in the film was news to me.
But as I watched the confrontations between Franken, Coulter, Hannity and O’Reilly and thought about the polarization in our country that has only intensified during the past decade I was struck not so much by the merits of the arguments put forth by both the political left and right but rather by the shear mean spiritedness of the debates. Rather than simply being individuals with differing points of view the confrontations had the tone of attacks that were unnecessarily personal.
Sadly, this seems to be the norm in our society today and perhaps it is time for those of us who are bothered by the growing incivility around us to take a stand. When I was growing up my little sister and I went through a phase where we absolutely hated each other. We were total opposites who couldn’t agree on anything. But never, in a million years would our parents have ever put up with the sniping and name calling that plays out on political television talk shows and radio programs every day. Whenever our childhood disagreements became just a little too personal mom was always quick to rein us in with the firm admonishment to “play nicely.”
While the need to “bite my tongue” and refrain from calling my sister a “great, big stupid head” (the ultimate in insults among “tween” girls in the 1970s) at the dinner table was maddeningly frustrating at the time I am grateful now for my mother’s strict enforcement of the “play nicely” rule. Heaven knows I have sat through any number of corporate presentations where the “You’re a great big stupid head” comment would not have been unjustified. But had I not learned to contain those urges early on I can’t imagine that my career would have advanced very far.
Passionate beliefs are a wonderful thing. Lively debates can keep our intellects sharp and our senses keen. But isn’t there a way to disagree without being intentionally disagreeable? What will it take to get back to “playing nicely”?
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