WORDLE THOUGHTS
It Starts With a Smirk
We start and we can’t stop
Today’s Wordle reminds me of politics. I don’t much like thinking about politics, but it dominates the world we live in. It has also become so polarized and so hateful that if the “other guys” win a particular election it seems like it’s the end of everything. That’s not an idea without merit, the GOP platform right now is to dismantle the government. They aren’t even trying to hide it.
I remember a time that seems distant, but it was only during the 2000 campaign between George Bush and Al Gore. This was a time when we analyzed a candidate’s actions down to SMIRKs and body-language. There is a clip from a debate where Al Gore moved close to George Bush during the debate and I can remember that simple positioning being over analyzed (see below). There are even articles where the opinion was that Gore’s sighs during Bush’s responses had cost him the election. I remember sighs and SMIRKs from both sides of that presidential contest, but they were never more than theatrics.
Fast forward to 2016, 2020, and the upcoming 2024. Candidates openly insult, interrupt, and personally attack other candidates. I would not be surprised if we see a fist fight next year on the debate stage. A simple movement toward another candidate such as Mr. Gore did (which I am certain was choreographed and planned) would be seen as an act of aggression and pounced on as a way to impress voters by throwing hands.
It’s embarrassing.
Our political landscape has escalated from harmless theatrical gestures to normalizing insults. At the same time, our political rallies have changed from chants and signs to guns and actual physical attacks on people who hold differing opinions.
I’m going to link an article by James Finn that shows what normalizing and allowing this escalation of rhetoric is doing to us as a nation. It’s worth a read and a lot of thought. This sort of thing is happening everywhere.
It’s easy to blame the politicians, but we let this happen by electing the people who throw the most hate, “own” the competition with the best insults, and prove themselves to be tougher because their followers are willing to beat up the other guy’s followers.
Can we please stop voting for bullies?
Oh, today’s Wordle is SMIRK.
