'Just Quiet Down Now...'

Nicholas Kristof has an interesting piece in the NY Times today about the Valerie Plame scandal that seems to offer general condemnation of all involved. I can't say I agree entirely with him-- I still think the case more serious, at least in principle, than he does-- but his column seems to me on-point and focused.

One of my great bugaboos about political discussion is the extent to which interested parties seem to become inevitable trotters out of tired old lines rather than bothering to consider patiently and seriously the issues at stake. You know the types I mean, the Crossfire types whose primary purpose seems to be to shout down their opponents rather than come to intelligent analysis or thought. I sometimes wonder why voices of the American Right, especially, tend to be intolerant blowhards when there's no necessitation for them to be so. I was lamenting this (and keep in mind that I think myself as having no political affiliation) yesterday as I was watching William Safire speak calmly and coherently, acting rather like a breath of fresh air (Safire as 'fresh air'? who'd have imagined that?) in a stiflingly cacophonic and generally deafening public debate. I find myself thinking back on the film and novel Primary Colors-- and not the Clinton aspects, but the figure of Governor Picker, played in the film by Larry Hagman, instructing his supporters to calm down, and reminding them that genuine debate isn't about getting your soundbytes in or silencing your opponents. This is a beautiful moment in the film, in part because it makes clear that this voice of reason is not coming from the Hollywood liberal left, but from a Republican. It's also a beautiful moment because it reminds me at least of the now fundamentally different natures of politicking and statesmanship. Sadly, we're in short of supply of true statespeople.

The Plame scandal, though, should serve to emphasize the extent to which political debate should be about figuring out the wisest course of action rather than clinging desperately to this sickening Hatfield and McCoys syndrome. Some very, very wrong things happened here, and something has to be done, and right now all sides sport their own nasty little aromas. What's the old truism, people? You have two ears and one mouth: use them in that proportion. Indeed.