Ex-educator: Debate showed president should be a statesman
Back when Paul Swanstrom chaired the speech department and managed the theater at Thornton Township High School in Harvey, he learned howto handle students who wouldn’t followthe rules.
Once, a musical group refused to stay within its allotted time. Swanstrom faded out the lights and cut the microphones and electrical power to the stage.
“The drummer was the only one left you could hear,” said Swanstrom, 67, of Crete.
Swanstrom, a Matteson native and retired high school superintendent, said Tuesday night’s presidential debate reminded him of unruly, belligerent miscreants.
“If those were kids, I would have told them to sit downand be quiet,” Swanstrom said. “It wasn’t a high school stage theywere on, itwas the world stage.”
Many shared Swanstrom’s sense of disgust after watching the 90-minute debate between President Donald Trump, a Republican, and former Vice President Joe Biden, a Democrat. Therewas little substance to their words and a lot of shouting, talking over one another, lying, bickering and name-calling. A sampling of headlines from media website son Wednesday reflected the nature of the discourse.
“Trump Won’ t Condemn White Supremacy; Policy Talk Is Drowned Out,” TheNewYorkTimes said.
“Good, Bad and the Ugly,” Fox News said.
“Trump Turns Debate Into Chaotic Disaster,” CNN said.
“Night Exposes Nation in Decline,” Drudge Report said.
“An Epic Moment of National Shame,” Politico said.
Some stuckwith both-sides platitudes. It’s terrible how low the nation’s political discourse has sunk, they seemed to say, casting blame equally upon both participants.
To do so is to condemn the inferno while one participant is holding a fire extinguisher and the other is holding a blowtorch. We are doomed ifwe cannot tell the difference between a firefighter and an arsonist.
The lack of decorum felt shocking, despite how numb many have become to insult-laden, grievance driven politics.
“What an insult to the overall process,” Swanstrom said.
Trump constantly interrupted Biden. The president’s obnoxious behavior exasperated moderator Chris Wallace of FoxNews. Many wondered why those in control of the debate allowed Trump to have access to a microphone when itwas Biden’s turn to speak. The Commission on Presidential Debates on Wednesday said it would make changes to the format of the two remaining scheduled debates to add structure that will “ensure a more orderly discussion of the issues.”
Trump trails Biden significantly in national polls and Biden leads Trump in several key battleground states, polls show. One possible explanation for Trump’s strategy is that he is trying to bring Biden downto his level. This strategy may well describe politics in general. Certainly it applies in Illinois, where many GOP supporters display yard signs with the name of the Democratic governor, followed by a derogatory word often used to describe the function of a vacuum cleaner.
These yard signs are displayed all over, in 2020, when the governor’s term does not end until 2023.
Both sides deploy negative attacks in politics. Republicans seem better at it. Commentators with prime-time shows on FoxNews seem to have trained their audiences over many years to believe that political opponents are enemies, not just rivals.
Trump lacks shame and moral turpitude. How surprised should we be that he triumphed in a system that rewards those who attack opponents with the most vigor?
“We’ve gotten to this stage in our political system because the idea of service to the community has died,” Swanstrom said. “They’re more concerned about keeping their jobs.”
Therewas a time when politicians from both parties seemed to care more about governing and less about retaining political power. Swanstrom mentioned Paul Simon. Not the singer from Simon& Garfunkel, but the late senator from Illinois.
Simon was known for wearing bowties and for displaying exemplary ethics and integrity. He served 10 years in the House of Representatives and 12 years in the Senate. He ran for president in 1988. He died in 2003 at age 75. After retiring fromthe Senate, Simon taught classes in political science, history and journalism at Southern Illinois University in Carbon dale, where he founded a Public Policy Institute that bears his name.
Simon was a statesman, Swanstrom said.
“Not aword that you hear very often, if at all, to describe today’s politicians,” Swanstrom said.
I told Swanstro mit seems not many people like Simon run for public office anymore. Alot of people who value ethics and integrity seem unwilling to subject themselves to endless attacks on their character.
Perhaps they value their families, their privacy or their sanity more than their political ambitions, I told Swanstrom.
Not all elected officials are motivated by personal gain over public service. The political system, however, thrives on misleading information and twisted truths. A president spouting outright lies about his opponent during a nationally televised debate felt like an inevitable next step. We can feel dismayed about the lack of decorum during Tuesday’s debate. No one, however, should be surprised.
“It’s frightening, howthe two candidates for president conducted themselves,” Swanstrom said. “I’m flabbergasted.”
Watching the debate, Swanstrom said he felt like he did all those years ago when he taught speech classes and ran the theater at Thornton Township High School and students tried to break the rules.
“Youwant to cut the mic,” he said.