The truly witty political put down is a lost art form. Robin Sears writes: "We have witnessed an astonishing decline in political wit in recent years. It has been replaced by elementary schoolyard insults delivered by the faux enraged."
No one practised the art form like the Brits:
It is an ancient and amusing tradition in U.K. politics. The old Labour warhorse Denis Healey famously brushed off a Conservative critic with the line that being attacked by him was like “being savaged by a dead sheep.” Made more cutting as Geoffrey Howe — chubby with a great mane of grey hair — did sort of look the part. Lady Astor to Churchill, “If I were your wife, I’d poison your tea!” Churchill, “Milady, if you were my wife, I’d drink it.”
Perhaps the last time that kind of wit was heard in the Canadian house of Commons was when David Lewis pointed across the aisle at the prime minister and bellowed "There but for Pierre Elliott Trudeau goes God!"
Nowadays, Andrew Scheer blurts out that another Trudeau is "a complete fraud." And Donald Trump calls his opponents "human scum." Perhaps the death of political wit is the inevitable consequence of living in a post literate society, where the image trumps the word and messages are reduced to bumper stickers.
And that's a tragedy. After all, Sears writes:
There is nothing funny about vicious political rhetoric. It demeans politics and politicians, it normalizes a form of discourse for which we would punish schoolchildren. For the perennially angry it can even act as a trigger to violence. One shudders to think how Maxime Bernier’s claim that Greta Thunberg was dangerous and mentally ill might have been received by some who were literally both.
So, let’s dial it back. Let’s not give airtime to inciteful hostile language. Let’s give louder huzzahs to those who bring some wit to political attack, even louder for those who risk being funny at their own expense.
It's humour that helps us keep our balance.
Image: Quotes Collection
