Off and running

By Jim Scarantino

Hello to Heath’s readers. I am excited about this opportunity to make a biweekly contribution to one of the finest state political sites you’ll find on the Web. I hope my participation might make it even better.

You may have seen my work elsewhere. I write for Albuquerque’s Weekly Alibi. My op-eds have been published in newspapers around the country. I am also a regular panelist on KNME-TV’s public affairs program, “In Focus.” I once debated Oliver North on his radio program. That was fun. He called me afterwards and we had a nice talk. But like Apollo Creed to Rocky Balboa, he said there would be no rematch. You can find more of my bio here.

As for “Off the Leash,” the name of this column, does that suggest an attack dog snarling and snapping every two weeks? Maybe. If you don’t agree that many of our politicians deserve to get chewed on, you either haven’t been paying attention or political writers haven’t been doing their job.

“Off the Leash” also implies freedom to chase an idea wherever it goes. That requires keeping political ideology and partisanship out of my paragraphs. Neither the Democrats nor Republicans have any claim on my vote or opinions.

I do believe words matter. Words, as George Orwell observed in “Politics and the English Language,” can be used for either “expressing (or) for concealing or preventing thought.”

Orwell also wrote this, better than I could ever put it: “Political language… is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.” Orwell was challenging writing crafted to disguise British imperialism and promote Stalin’s totalitarianism, both of which needed dull minds and political conformity.

American political discourse contains many words Orwell would condemn because they dim the brain: “liberal,” “progressive,” “conservative,” “right-wing,” “left-wing,” “moderate,” “neocon,” “patriot,” “radical,” “extremist,” “racist,” “pro-choice,” “pro-life,” “evangelical,” “environmentalist.” Without these words, some television political shows would be half as long.

Sometimes words strangle dialogue. “The worst thing one can do with words is surrender to them,” Orwell insisted. Words can also distort reality. What of “patriotic” “conservatives” who opposed the invasion of Iraq? What of “pro-life” “liberals,” like the 40 percent of registered Democrats who oppose abortion on demand? Or “progressive” “evangelicals” who call for fighting global warming and poverty as fervently as they oppose same-sex marriage? Or “racist” “progressives” who invoke skin pigment and ethnicity to explain every injustice and inequity?

We can miss the truth of what is happening in the world unless we take our minds and language off the leash of phrases and ideas others have manufactured for us.

Enough already with the philosophy of political commentary. “Off the Leash” also means I get to be playful, like a frisky pup loose in a park. Thank goodness. For the mental health of the author, political writing can’t always be serious. The absurdity of politics and its practitioners is a resource not to be wasted. In New Mexico, we’ve been especially blessed with this resource.

This introduction gives some idea of what to expect in future columns. See you in two weeks.

Scarantino has been recognized as one of the country’s best political columnists by the American Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. His work has been published in more than 50 newspapers. You can contact him at jrscarantino@yahoo.com.