I began writing this blog posting some weeks ago, and have updated it to take account of the latest news. The guy pictured above has been in federal prison until just recently. The picture is of Steve Bannon, for those who might not recognize him from this image. Bannon went into prison on July 1st, and began serving a four-month sentence on that date. He is now back out on the streets again. Election Day is tomorrow, so it looks like Bannon won't have to use a mail-in ballot.
By the way, if you haven't already made use of a mailed-in ballot to vote, let me encourage you to vote in person tomorrow. This particular election, coming up, seems particularly significant!
The picture I have placed at the top of this blog posting comes from the online version of an article that ran in the September+October issue of Mother Jones. The article was titled, "The Art Of The Deal," but that is a headline you will find only if you are reading the hard copy version. Online (just click this link), the magazine has titled the article, "Steve Bannon Swaps His Podcast Studio for a Prison Cell." This article, by Tim Murphy, focuses on Bannon's podcast, "War Room."
Since I began writing this daily blog - way back in 2010 - I have had many occasions to advise anyone reading my blog that politics is absolutely the opposite of a "spectator sport." Past pronouncements include the following (and this is definitely not a complete list):
#78 - Arendt (March 20, 2010)
#25 - Not A Spectator Sport (January 25, 2012)
#170 - From Spectators To Strategists (June 19, 2021)
When we allow politics to become "entertainment," which really is a "spectator sport," we begin to think of politics as something we "look at," and "observe," rather than something that we "do." If and when we allow that to happen, we actually lose "politics" itself. The article in Mother Jones is about how Bannon has translated his very toxic political views into a "spectacle," and how his podcast is, perhaps more than anything else, a mechanism to sell merchandise.
One of the candidates on our ballot tomorrow is, actually, best known as a television "entertainer."
If we are serious about "politics," we won't reward an "entertainer" with our vote, because that would be a confession that we don't value our own power and agency, and are content to "watch," to make politics into a "spectacle," and into a "spectator sport."
Tomorrow Is It!
Don't Forget To Vote!
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