May 01, 2004
Jesse Taylor and Jerry Springer
I actually have a favorite blogger. Over the months I've been reading Jesse Taylor's writing, and he's got this mix of analysis, passion, and snarkiness that I think is pretty much perfect. He doesn't use the snark as an excuse not to express himself passionately, and when he does use the snark, it's very funny. Plus, he's prolific.He's just out of college and just landed a job, as the blogger for Jerry For Ohio, which is Jerry Springer's political organization.
Now, I gotta start with the disclaimers. Jesse's from Ohio and knows more about Springer than I do. And, it's a job. And, Springer has a political history - a former mayor - and is evidently a strong progressive.
But, I just don't know how Jerry reconciles things in himself. From everything I've heard, he's an awesome democrat. But he still condones everything in his show enough to not only participate in it, but produce and incite it. How do those fit together? How?
The thing is that at its root, it is hatred. Encouraging people to put themselves on display and caricature themselves in a negative way is encouraging self-hatred. The motivation has to come from a place of contempt. I do not trust him to champion Democratic ideals, not when the going will get tough. How can I trust that, when time came for compromise, he would not compromise in a way that would only reinforce negative perceptions of the lower class? His show is already an example of that style of compromise. If I were a lower income voter with any self-respect I would not want Springer to represent me.
Jesse got a job as a professional blogger, and he deserves congratulations for that. But I think one of Jesse's first job duties should be to explain how to reconcile all these things, because I'm hardly the on person feeling it. If it's possible to explain it, Jesse's equipped to do it.
Here's an episode of This American Life that focuses on Jerry's early political career. It's eerie to hear people talk about him as one of the best, most talented politicians ever - on the level of Reagan, Clinton, and Kennedy. It starts about 4:30 in.
I've listened to it and was struck by two things. First, I was inspired by even his recent political speeches. Second, his explanations about his role with the show stank of rationalization. This radio piece didn't do a thing to reconcile the two lives of Jerry Springer - instead, it only emphasized the contrast. To me, it's a tragedy - but I don't see myself respecting Jerry until he admits it was a tragedy as well.