Last call for one horrific cliché
Hostility in American politics has reached an embarrassing low. I’m not talking about the daily antagonism. That was going on before Vice President Aaron Burr shot and killed Alexander Hamilton in their duel of 1804.
These days, an identical description of almost every innocuous comment is taking the edge off politics, robbing it of originality and sterilizing debate.
Some politician is always “calling out” an enemy for this or that.
Or some producer or headline writer who loves murdering the language as much as Burr enjoyed shooting Hamilton is breathlessly claiming that someone “called out” a politician.
Here is a small sampling from the past 12 months of the tritest saying in politics:
Miami Herald — “Rubio calls out Puerto Rico’s governor on statehood.”
U.S. Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s campaign for governor of New Mexico — “Congresswoman Lujan Grisham calls out Governor Martinez’s support for Trump’s decision to deploy National Guard troops to U.S.-Mexico border.”
KRQE Television, Albuquerque — “Lujan Grisham calls out state senator over harassment claims.”
KRQE strikes again — “Albuquerque mayor calls out online retail giant.”
Vox.com — “Washington governor calls out Trump — to his face — on his idea to arm teachers.”
WSKG Radio, Binghamton, N.Y — “New York governor calls out GOP senators who can’t recall Trump’s profanity.”
Miami New Times — “Sanders calls out Rubio for wanting to cut Social Security and Medicaid.”
Democratic Party of New Mexico — “DPNM calls out Pearce for votes to take away health care from New Mexicans ahead of gubernatorial forum.”
CNN — “Trump calls out Bush, Obama on North Korea.”
Connecticut Post — “[Gov. Dannel] Malloy calls out senator as homophobe.”
Los Angeles Times — “Pelosi calls out California Republican members as ‘lemmings’ for supporting tax bill.”
Washington Free Beacon — “WaPo [The Washington Post for those outside the beltway] calls out Pelosi for misleading claim that ‘middle-class’ Americans will see higher taxes under Trump tax law.”
Bay City News Service — “AG Sessions calls out Mayor Schaaf, refers to Civil War.”
WQAD Television, Moline, Ill. — “Jimmy Kimmel gets choked up and calls out President Trump.”
Huffington Post — “Kimmel calls out senator for health bill.”
Politico Florida — “Corcoran calls out Senate for endangering sexual harassment bill.”
Bangor Daily News — “Maine lobbyist calls out sexual misconduct at State House.”
The significance of this tidal wave of callouts escapes me. Will these menacing words change minds, kill bad legislation or lead to important reforms?
Nobody seems to know, but one statesman “calling out” another must be important. Otherwise, why would so many people be using the term when every English teacher warned them to avoid hackneyed expressions?
Santa Fe has more sophisticated politicians than the ordinary pugilists occupying public office. They avoid calling out one another, even when emotions reach the stratosphere.
Mayor Alan Webber recently found words of optimism that he hoped would defuse a controversy over the 15 percent and 10 percent raises his administrators handed to select city employees without the City Council’s knowledge.
“It is an opportunity for more than anger,” Webber wrote of the pay hikes. “This decision gives us an opportunity to reflect on the way we feel about our city government and our city employees.” People already know how they feel. Somehow, Webber’s reflections failed to calm the collective nerves of residents. They expected him to run a government cognizant of all the workers in the private sector who aren’t getting any raise at all.
Still, when City Council members recently threatened dissent over the pay hikes, they didn’t call out the mayor. Councilor Mike Harris simply said: “This isn’t over.”
Harris needed only three words to let people know how seriously he takes his politics — and how weak those ubiquitous call-outs sound.
Ringside Seat is an opinion column about people, politics and news. Contact Milan Simonich at msimonich@sfnewmexican.com or 505-986-3080.