What's over the top in an election?
Have been getting
overly sensitive around elections of late.
I am not someone who considers themselves a Liberal, a Conservative or
an NDP’r. I rarely if ever miss a chance
to vote, and feel passionately about politics, but I vote based on the current
issues and opportunities and what I believe is the best and most promising in
candidates, no parties to blur my thinking.
It`s a little backwards in ways, to not support a party is to not truly
have a belief is some people`s thinking.
I believe that the parties have blurred their own lines and are no
longer clinging to party lines as they did in the past making my decision a lot
easier to manage. On Thursday we will
head to the polls, voter turnout will be horrendously low and we will once
again be left holding the bag in this province, the only true bonus of this race
is the likelihood of a minority government.
Last week a lot
(almost an inordinate number actually) of folks on FB took offence to a cartoon
printed in the Toronto Sun, created by Andy Donato. Everyone was screaming that this was
disgusting and completely offensive. The
cartoon did NOT show anyone’s face, body, sex or sexual preference, just teeth,
glasses and stuff, based on the previous night’s debate, the assumption was
clearly that it was Wynne. I have seen
the same carton a million times, in so many forms and never has it created
controversy. The last time FYI, was Andy
Donato’s doing as well, but the last time it showed Hudak bloodied at the hands
of McGuinty in 2011.
Political races are a
competition, a race as it were, but not a race afoot, rather a race of words
and tactics. To win as a politician you
must be intelligent (Unless electing a leader if you are a Republican), you
must be calm and you must have balls.
Not getting into the other part, you must lie well, you enjoy deception
and like to abuse your power and money, that’s a different discussion.
In a race you are in a
dogfight. You have to have thick skin
and you must be prepared to bare all to everyone. It’s a war (the current Ontario election
should be known as the Lame War mind you), last man standing kind of
stuff.
Back to the
cartoon. In 2011 when that cartoon was
used with Hudak as the victim, no one said boo, he got knocked around by both
Andrea and Dalton in the debate, he earned his punches and got them and
everyone agreed. Fast forward to today,
I personally thought she was awful in the debate, but so were the other two
nevertheless Wynne was the cartoon victim this time. Same cartoon, same theme, AND yet everyone is
up in arms, because its gay bashing or showing violence towards women, both of
which are heinous acts. I failed then
and continue to fail to see the connection between the cartoon and Wynne’s sex
and sexuality. She’s a warrior in the
battle of her life and she was knocked down somewhat (according to Andy Donato
at least) in a public debate. Big deal
really, at least as far as I see it, big deal.
I am by no means
saying that women’s rights and LGBT rights have no place in this election, they
do in fact, but not where the leaders are concerned. Wynne is a candidate, nothing less and
nothing more, her private life makes for nice fodder and a wonderful screenplay,
but is hardly an issue we are voting on, nor an issue the Donato saw in
creating his cartoon.
It would be the same
if a black man were running against a white man and they showed either of their
likenesses having been beating, the political do-gooders of this politically
correct society would scream racism, or profiling or gang or drug related
crime, whatever, you know that based on this outcry there would have been in
that case too – RELAX folks, and try NOT to put issues into this election that
don’t already exist.
On another note, a
good friend on FB posted an abusive personal attack on Hudak the other night,
based solely on the mole on his cheek. I
would ask you, which attack is worse?
There’s no place for that kind of personal shit in any election, because
honestly, once we go there, we are opening this up to the kind of personal attacks
that will challenge Wynne’s openness and move us 30 years back as a civilization.
posted by G.M. Shier @ Tuesday, June 10, 2014
1 Comments:
In general, it does seem like a mountain out of a mole (sorry) hill, so to speak, but changing a character in a scene can change the context, and therefore the meaning.
In this case, I'd think the story is a something of a stretch, but my point is teasing some guy about being bald is different than teasing a woman who is bald due to her cancer treatments. You're using the same tease, in the example, but the impact will be very different.
In a society where abuse against women is still a serious issue, it doesn't hurt to be a little more sensitive about the issue, not that I think Donato's cartoon was anything but a metaphor about the debate.
But in this election, the deeper issue isn't nonsense like this; and it's not about the press. The deeper issue is the sincere lack of qualified choice.
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