http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/02/16/a_thought_on_evan_bayh_and_partisan_america/?ref=fpblgNot long ago I was debating someone on television. I thought the discussion was going well until the commercial break when a producer said into my earpiece "be angrier."
"Why should I be angrier?" I asked him, irritated that he hadn't appreciated the thoughtfulness of debate.
"That's how we get channel surfers to stop and watch the program," the producer explained. "Eyeballs are attracted to anger."
(snip)
Anger makes good television, but it's fake and it teaches Americans the wrong lessons. Anger also can win elections (Senate Republicans haven't given Obama any votes because they've been eyeing the 2010 midterms since he took office, hoping for a rerun of 1994), but partisan anger is just as fake, and it undermines the capacity of our democracy to do the public's business.
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