I’ve found a personal reward in being a citizen of Madison for three years now. The people of Madison have a certain pride in their political knowledge, enlightenment and activism, which is relatively rare compared to many communities. A “collective consciousness” seems to extend itself to the city limits and influence the ideals and goals of the people of Madison with concern to their country and community. Without question, the political atmosphere of Madison is something to treasure. But there is a light that also unfortunately shines on those less fortunate of our awareness.

For as long as I could remember, I conceived of American politics as an ever-enduring machine prized on the betterment of the United States and all of its citizens through numerous channels of regulation and protection. However, only recently have I come to terms with the real America, its politics and its people.

In an age of instant news and media bombardment, we seem to have lost the valor to accept only that which is real and authentic. Rather, we have become obsessed with “reality” television, Perez Hilton, steroid scandals and most markedly, political gossip. I suppose it shouldn’t come as much of a shock considering the power of the entertainment industry in the U.S., but what does come as a shock to me — and hopefully many others — is that the people we elect and hold to almost inhuman moral and ethical standards are precisely those who we crave immoral and unethical scandal from more than anyone else. I would even go so far as to call it antagonized irony.

As citizens and potential voters, we are supposedly in constant demand of rhetoric confluent with truth, reason and transparency. However, when politicians cross that imaginary line and opt for name-calling and gossip, we all seem to step back in astonishment — as if this person were not human and those utterances were a direct indication of an inner demon.

Politics is a cutthroat business, where winning is everything. But we are all witness to a very real divide in America’s future. There are numerous issues that will have to be dealt with — delicately — in the next few years to come: Iraq, Iran, health care, the economy, etc. Yet those issues always seem to take a backseat to what the media has propagated as more vital and intriguing. That is precisely the issue at hand. Our political thirsts come in the form of gossip and extravagance, and are all quenched by the media without acknowledgement of any real issues of concern.

If we examine what stories related to the presidential election have taken precedence as of late, it is clear to see that Barack Obama’s Reverend Wright scandal, Hillary Clinton’s Bosnia scandal, or McCain’s Shiite/Sunni mix-up have all dominated cable news networks and newspaper headlines. Last Wednesday, former President Bill Clinton was quoted in CNN as saying, “If a politician doesn’t wanna get beat up, he shouldn’t run for office.” But later he went on to say, “I’ve heard them say all these things about [Hillary] … apparently it’s okay to say bad things about a girl.” The hypocrisy is more than blatant, yet stories just like this one continue to intrigue and dominate the discourse of this election.

It is truly sad, but this is the America, as mentioned earlier, that I have had to accept. There seems to always be demand for the political discussion to put aside the gossip and a call for intelligent conversation related to the pressing issues of America’s future. Yet a discourse with a transparent undercurrent may never occur unless we decide to put down the tabloid and demand a substantive debate of the issues that really do concern our country. We cannot blame the media for feeding us rumors and hearsay, because it is we who consume those tired rants and talking heads.

The American political climate will only change when the people truly decide that politics must come before entertainment.

Ben Patterson ([email protected]) is a junior majoring in political science.