Writing about rants

I just listened to a popular broadcaster do a car-rant. First-rate rant! He's got the art form down. Usually, I think I can do things as well as anyone else. But I don't think I'm rant material. The problem is that it just doesn't fit my way of seeing the world. It's a form of speech, though, that I sometimes admire. Remember Howard Beale in "Network. The "I'm mad as hell" guy. He was good. And I like Black, who was often on the Today Show. I'll even go so far as to endorse the endorphins. On, from the half-time locker room, to victory! On the thinking side, though, rants are part of a speech tradition that makes seemingly plausible assertions without any attempt to provide backup. I can work up a basket of rants that take all sides of today's politics and they will be all the same in terms of a "yeah, that's true" … "well sure" … "I'm with you" … until I hear the next well staged one. I'm saying our ears are tuned to many "sounds right" phrases. And as long as we use them to vent, no harm done. But if they are wrong? Well, it's just preaching to the choir and maybe the choir does need a little boost. The baritones are weak, and particular "churches" gives them tough music to harmonize. After all, it is a form of satire and can get the engines started and jar some conventional thinking out of ruts. By the way, a whining voice for one side and a masculine growl for the other is more than anything a cheap shot, but I always give points for performance as well as participation. However, once we've identified a concern or an injury to discuss, we could actually have a real discussion. We can look for plausible evidence? Assess the assumptions in play? Is this part of a problem that actually does need a solution, if one can be found? Or is it fairy dust? We do need to do a lot more intellectual "lifting," than is possible with rant. That is, if we genuinely want to get from point A to point B. Or even C,D, or E, we need to sit down together and respect each other. When we are all pulling the wagon in different directions, I have no idea where we might end up. Or when we are all shouting in the ears of different mules. I get the fact that much of politics is performance. Heck, I taught this for years. And there is a lot of ranting on the left. I get it. I get it. I'm not saying we must all talk in hushed tones, bare whispers in hallowed halls. I don't want to take politics out of bar rooms. Where would Mr. Dooley go? He needed to be heard, and his like need a forum today. (For those who don't know, he was Peter Dunne's fictional Irish immigrant bartender in 19th century Chicago.) "There is, in Chicago, a street of endless dreariness, a street curiously uninteresting to the casual glance and more and more uninteresting to the lengthening look. Yet the touch of genius made this street seem one of the most fascinating streets of the world, in humanity, in humor, in tragedy and kindness. It is Archer Avenue, in earlier days Archer Road, made by Finley Peter Dunne into "Archey Road." It was one of the earliest streets of the city, stretching away from the center and far out toward the wilderness. Finley Peter Dunne originated "Mr. Dooley," and placed him on "Archey Road," and proceeded to fascinate all America.—Robert Shackleton, "The Book of Chicago," 1910." So let's agree the "front parlor" of American homes is dedicated to polite conversation. Between the front parlor, however, and a street brawl, there are still places where people can meet to "perform" in a different way. To be citizens. John Bing is Emeritus Professor of Political Science at Heidelberg University and writes a by-weekly newsletter at johnb0c.substack.com