Degraded political discourse

A May 25 letter asks: “Does anyone really want either of these (Trump or Clinton) to be in charge of our future?” His question insinuates that there must be other equally or better-qualified people who could lead our country at this crucial time in history.

Joseph Epstein, writing in the April 6 Wall Street Journal, offers some thoughts in answer to that question: “The media and Internet are the major instruments of contemporary political degradation.”

One misspoken word, one errant step and social media broadcast it around the world in minutes, if not seconds. Yes, there are many people with the qualifications to lead our country, but they do not wish to subject themselves to “the scourging that running for office now entails.”

Epstein concludes with: “Today it is difficult to engage the interest of much of the public in anything above the level of scandal. Serious political discourse has long been one casualty of this; civility is now another. The consequences of these losses are likely to be on exhibition, in HD, in a Trump-Clinton election contest, which figures to be America’s first PG-13 race for the presidency. My advice is don’t let the kids watch.”

This story was originally published June 8, 2016 at 7:29 PM with the headline "Degraded political discourse."