A few years ago I publicly criticised the Afrikaans media and other institutions for giving a certain pseudo-intellectual rightwing lunatic a generous platform to spew his racist nonsense. I used the analogy of visitors to the zoo encountering a masturbating monkey near the entrance. They were so entertained by this peculiar sight that they didnt venture further and experience the elephant, the lion, the meerkat, the python and all the other amazing animals. When they left, they only told the story of the monkey. I think that analogy is again applicable to the first day of debate on the presidents state of the nation address in parliament. A young man whose party only got 6 percent of the vote mistook parliament for a populist rally and ranted, raved, insulted and clowned around, even challenged the authority of the speaker. And that became the main news of the afternoon and even the next morning. Im all for robust debate and for lively, forthright exchanges in our highest legislative body. The EFFs militant views should be heard in parliament and we should take note of those views. But we shouldnt be complicit when some politicians turn our parliament into a populist circus. It is the one place where we should protest against the cheap populism that has taken over so much of our public discourse.
Posted on: Thu, 19 Jun 2014 07:40:05 +0000
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