As much as it pains me to do this, I’m going to give Kathy Griffin an ounce more of press.
I regretfully do so as an olive branch to our country’s political divide. I will print this article about this non-issue to highlight the state of our media circus.
I don’t believe Griffin violated the law in her actions. Her photo did not appear to actively call for violence against our President, so it should be protected speech.
However, I also don’t believe she should be talked about even once more by the end of this piece.
How many times do we see some D-list celebrity do something relatively crass or politically incorrect, then the next day publish a weeping apology to the internet?
What’s more troubling is the next step to this process: repurposing.
What Griffin did does not matter–so long as it is found to be free speech.
Anything, and I do mean anything, that receives attention becomes ammo for a political debate.
As someone who sells web advertising, I’m aware of the many ways media outlets can jeopardize their content for the sake of ads. Every news outlet in the world suddenly made this story the biggest news piece.
The story wasn’t what she did. There’s not enough there to care about. “One woman has an opinion” should not be breaking news.
Soon, the “journalism” gets past the mainstream clickbaits and the smaller sections of the more reputable papers and bleeds to the openly partisan organizations.
“You’ll never believe what this crazy liberal did,” and “out of touch conservative proves just why racism is alive and well” among other ludicrous headlines circle around the masses.
The goal being that we normalize this behavior and that we increase our comfort levels with those that think like us–or at least want to appear that way.
I don’t care if you’re Democrat, Republican or a fan of Vermin Supreme, your political party has experienced challenges this election. Why are we not focusing on that?
We subscribe more to what affirms our convictions than we do seriously evaluate that which may make us uncomfortable.
Everything becomes a talking point to fire at our own communities, for the specific benefit to those outside them.
From the conservative side, I have seen little discussion on a cornucopia of interests to the conservative base. That alarms me, as a young person.
My generation has many election cycles left to influence our politics and it does not look promising that the values of each party are being taken seriously. If we take something seriously, we can definitively reach a decision.
Instead, it seems like politics is just another celebrity news cycle. People bring it up for conversation, but only to laugh about our discomfort and problems.
Most people want something positive to happen with our government. We’re dealing with a new, technologically connected world. This incredibly globalized world we live in will require leaders that can make these pressing issues heard.
Can you imagine trying to get a word in edgewise in a conversation about Kathy Griffin’s political statement? You’d be so intrigued as to by what miracle her name appears to likely reject its nonsense.
That’s what a bunch of people on either side want. They want us to care more about how we feel about Griffin’s statement than we do about her right to make it.
Perhaps, if we took our rights as seriously as we do every clickbait article, we may make some headway. Instead, it’s marketable to simply call out the other side’s hypocrisy. We’re getting tired of that.
Simply calling out the hypocrisy which is prevalent on both sides does not do our country good.
That alone leaves said hypocrisy to be repurposed like Griffin’s fiasco. It becomes not about the specific issue or action that we can take to resolve it, but about the way it can make someone feel.
Barton Kleen
Executive Editor