darinsullivan.blogspot.com: The politics of the mob - Another bully @2gb is exposed

The politics of the mob

THE conservative side of politics in Australia is not known for political protests. The silent majority has that name for a reason. Perhaps that is why, when its members and representatives do protest, they can find it hard to keep within boundaries.

We have remarked before on the repellent quality of some recent attacks on the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, over the carbon tax in particular - in which the lack of respect shown for the office and the individual holding it has been both ugly and dangerous.

The demonstration by truckies and others outside Parliament House in Canberra yesterday marked another low in this slow degradation of the standard of Australian political discourse. As the Herald's reporter, Jacqueline Maley, has written on page one, her attempt to question one of the leaders of the demonstration, the radio personality Alan Jones, was met with abuse both privately and, more alarmingly, in public. Fearing for her safety in a crowd that had been whipped into a frenzy of anger against any and all opponents, Maley quite rightly withdrew.

Maley's question to Jones was legitimate: had he been paid a fee for speaking to the rally? (It eventually emerged he had not.) The question is legitimate because at other times this is Jones's normal professional practice as a radio personality. He is not, as he himself says, a journalist. His speaking ability can be bought by those who want to use it for their purposes. Since his expression of his opinions is the source of his considerable power over the minds of some in the community, it is important to know the precise nature of his motivation.

It did not, obviously, suit the mood of the meeting as far as Jones was concerned. Nor did other interventions by other media representatives. A journalist from Sky News was berated for having the temerity to report the truth on another issue: that the protest convoy had not been blocked from entering Canberra. The crowd, reduced by Jones's flow of eloquence into a baying mob, produced a similar stream of bile for this fresh object of its hatred.

What was on display in these episodes is a dangerous undercurrent of our democracy. Jones the demagogue is capable of encouraging, even in times of prosperity, feelings of victimhood among those with whose interests he aligns himself, and nurturing them into full, malignant blossom.

The ability, in a democracy, to turn otherwise decent individuals into a mob, and to direct their uncontrolled anger at others, is one all Australians should reject.

Posted via email from My | [R]evolution