he blunt talker: When 'telling it like it is' is bad: Viewpoint
Rush Limbaugh helped spawn a movement toward self-described "straight talk'' that removed previous checks and balances from analysis and commentary. (Julie Smith)
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It doesn't matter what you say, only that you mean it.
This is the credo of America in 2015. For the first time in my life, I crave a little less frank talk from the people who propose to lead us.
My chief editor tells me we should take a breather from Donald Trump, if only because Trump talk can become an addiction. Trump's self-described tell-it-like-it-is style has changed the political dynamic in America, but this is not really about him, even if he serves as the poster child for a mood that claims Rush Limbaugh as its godfather.
It's more about our new habit of applauding any form of blunt talk, however abrasive or simplistic or offensive, as a needed and refreshing change from the crippling yoke of political correctness or the numbing pointlessness of political double-speak.
Nobody in America is more honest than the blatant racist, spouting hatred for whatever form of human meets with his disapproval. It's repugnant, but it's honest.
Where we once recoiled from such revolting forms of honesty, growing segments of society now cheer it for "telling it like it is,'' although it is only how the speaker thinks it is.
As angry Americans exalt honest commentary in all its forms, we are losing sight of much of what will be needed to not only govern this country responsibly, but live in it responsibly as citizens.
We are coming to either scorn or ignore diplomacy, tact and respect, treating them as weaknesses when it fact they reflect maturity, character and strength.
Diplomacy and tact recognize the need to navigate the complexity of situations for the better end. Respect shows self-confidence by a person who believes his or her opinions will stand up to competition or comparison with others.
Our cultural sense of humor is going, going, gone. Nothing is funny anymore, regardless of its tone.
Tone? Before entire concepts were expected to be summed up in 140 characters or fewer, tone of voice could help keep comments in context. Today, judging context is a lost art, and the art of literate, articulate speech is headed there.
What was once considered reckless talk is now hailed as honest talk – regardless of what is actually being said. A differing side will be offended or abused? Tough.
People with opposing views might have something to offer the discussion? Who cares?
The current fascination with straight talk in its most mean-spirited, insulting forms is natural. Political correctness has been taken to absurd degrees, intimidating reasonable people who have something worthwhile to say but are afraid to say it.
Politicians for decades have given us the verbal soft shoe, and we'd had it with their act. The backlash against mumbo-jumbo has galvanized support for people like Trump (sorry, Mr. Editor, but he is the best example), whose scorched-earth observations and outright bullying tactics are mistaken but unmistakable.
This is doing damage beyond the fact that in-your-face bravado is no way to run a government or live in a society. Telling it like it is, without regard to consequences or respect to those who may not be in lockstep, is not something to be proud about.
Abusing free speech does not honor or respect the right of free speech, whether you can get away with it or not. Being compulsively insulting is not the same as being astute.
America's glorification of so-called candor is really all about cynicism run amok. But this nation has been at its best when it kept its cynicism in check, and relying on forthright but carefully considered language is one way of doing it.
So don't tell me the characters who cloak themselves in "telling it like it is'' – the street-corner bigot, the stand-up comic whose cutting-edge humor is really a political diatribe,
or the politician who can't put a little thoughtful intellect into the bombast – are heroes.
They are not rescuing this country. They may ruin it.
I've always been told that nobody likes a know-it-all but today, we exalt such folks for saying what is on their minds in unfettered, unfiltered fashion. I miss the days when more leaders and more average people tried to do this with a little patience and respect, and when candor was used as a method of persuasion, not a sledgehammer to win the argument by brute verbal force.
Some of the most noble people in history spoke with blunt, no-holds-barred candor. Some of the most reprehensible did so as well.
That skill alone is not to be saluted, let alone exalted. It matters what you say and how you say it, not just that you mean it.
Give me a person – a neighbor, a civic leader, a Senator or President – whose comments reflect a connection to the world around him, and not just an isolated bully pulpit from which to scream. If that means accepting a little less honesty, I'm OK with that.
All this straight talk is tearing this country apart. That's a high price to pay for telling it like it is, or how you think it is.
This is the credo of America in 2015. For the first time in my life, I crave a little less frank talk from the people who propose to lead us.
My chief editor tells me we should take a breather from Donald Trump, if only because Trump talk can become an addiction. Trump's self-described tell-it-like-it-is style has changed the political dynamic in America, but this is not really about him, even if he serves as the poster child for a mood that claims Rush Limbaugh as its godfather.
It's more about our new habit of applauding any form of blunt talk, however abrasive or simplistic or offensive, as a needed and refreshing change from the crippling yoke of political correctness or the numbing pointlessness of political double-speak.
Nobody in America is more honest than the blatant racist, spouting hatred for whatever form of human meets with his disapproval. It's repugnant, but it's honest.
Where we once recoiled from such revolting forms of honesty, growing segments of society now cheer it for "telling it like it is,'' although it is only how the speaker thinks it is.
As angry Americans exalt honest commentary in all its forms, we are losing sight of much of what will be needed to not only govern this country responsibly, but live in it responsibly as citizens.
We are coming to either scorn or ignore diplomacy, tact and respect, treating them as weaknesses when it fact they reflect maturity, character and strength.
Diplomacy and tact recognize the need to navigate the complexity of situations for the better end. Respect shows self-confidence by a person who believes his or her opinions will stand up to competition or comparison with others.
Our cultural sense of humor is going, going, gone. Nothing is funny anymore, regardless of its tone.
Tone? Before entire concepts were expected to be summed up in 140 characters or fewer, tone of voice could help keep comments in context. Today, judging context is a lost art, and the art of literate, articulate speech is headed there.
What was once considered reckless talk is now hailed as honest talk – regardless of what is actually being said. A differing side will be offended or abused? Tough.
People with opposing views might have something to offer the discussion? Who cares?
The current fascination with straight talk in its most mean-spirited, insulting forms is natural. Political correctness has been taken to absurd degrees, intimidating reasonable people who have something worthwhile to say but are afraid to say it.
Politicians for decades have given us the verbal soft shoe, and we'd had it with their act. The backlash against mumbo-jumbo has galvanized support for people like Trump (sorry, Mr. Editor, but he is the best example), whose scorched-earth observations and outright bullying tactics are mistaken but unmistakable.
This is doing damage beyond the fact that in-your-face bravado is no way to run a government or live in a society. Telling it like it is, without regard to consequences or respect to those who may not be in lockstep, is not something to be proud about.
Abusing free speech does not honor or respect the right of free speech, whether you can get away with it or not. Being compulsively insulting is not the same as being astute.
America's glorification of so-called candor is really all about cynicism run amok. But this nation has been at its best when it kept its cynicism in check, and relying on forthright but carefully considered language is one way of doing it.
So don't tell me the characters who cloak themselves in "telling it like it is'' – the street-corner bigot, the stand-up comic whose cutting-edge humor is really a political diatribe,
or the politician who can't put a little thoughtful intellect into the bombast – are heroes.
They are not rescuing this country. They may ruin it.
I've always been told that nobody likes a know-it-all but today, we exalt such folks for saying what is on their minds in unfettered, unfiltered fashion. I miss the days when more leaders and more average people tried to do this with a little patience and respect, and when candor was used as a method of persuasion, not a sledgehammer to win the argument by brute verbal force.
Some of the most noble people in history spoke with blunt, no-holds-barred candor. Some of the most reprehensible did so as well.
That skill alone is not to be saluted, let alone exalted. It matters what you say and how you say it, not just that you mean it.
Give me a person – a neighbor, a civic leader, a Senator or President – whose comments reflect a connection to the world around him, and not just an isolated bully pulpit from which to scream. If that means accepting a little less honesty, I'm OK with that.
All this straight talk is tearing this country apart. That's a high price to pay for telling it like it is, or how you think it is.
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