Charlie Sykes: Jerkitude and Civility

Why are so many of our political leaders jerks? @SykesCharlie looks for an answer.https://t.co/ge0MHBAz6I

— Stephen Hayes (@stephenfhayes) June 25, 2018

Charlie Sykes, former Milwaukee conservative talk radio host, writes:

As America continues its downward spiral of incivility, we have entered the Summer of Jerkitude. (I had thought about using a different word that ended in “-holery,” but wasn’t sure it would pass muster with the editors of a tasteful and intellectual publication like THE WEEKLY STANDARD.)

But “jerkitude” is a useful concept for our national moment of irritation and obnoxiousness. As it happens, some years ago, Eric Schwitzgebel, a professor of philosophy at the University of California, Riverside, developed a comprehensive theory of the essence of jerkitude:

The jerk culpably fails to appreciate the perspectives of others around him, treating them as tools to be manipulated or idiots to be dealt with rather than as moral and epistemic peers. . . .The jerk himself is both intellectually and emotionally defective, and what he defectively fails to appreciate is both the intellectual and emotional perspectives of the people around him.

Apparently, Sykes doesn't recognize himself. He uses a definition of jerk that applies to him.

During the 2016 election and, I imagine, for more than 500 days of the Trump presidency, Sykes has mocked the president and his supporters. He called his talk radio audience racists. He routinely pushes the narrative that one must be out of one's mind to support Trump. Of course, he mocks Trump's appearance, too. He echoes the Democrat/Leftist mantras.

I guess Sykes' persona of jerkitude plays well on MSNBC, but he is unrecognizable to many of his former listeners in southeast Wisconsin, undergoing a dramatic transformation.

In his piece, Sykes details recent displays of incivility, including those involving Maxine Waters, Seth Rogen, Robert De Niro, Corey Lewandowski, and Stephanie Wilkinson, owner of The Red Hen.

Then, he addresses what we experienced in Wisconsin and the similarity of that insanity to the current national political divisiveness.

...As a political strategy, this effusion of rage undoubtedly does fire up the bases on both sides, and that seems to be the theme of this year’s midterm election. But a cautionary note is in order.

As a Wisconsinite, all of this seems familiar. During the battle over Act 10—Scott Walker’s proposal to limit the collective bargaining powers of public employees—the over-the-top incivility of the protesters turned the tide of political opinion against them. A cascade of obscenities, threats against Walker and his supporters, and the disruption of events for disabled athletes alienated swing voters for more than half a decade.

Given the emotionalism of our own angry moment, it may seem pointless to suggest that a wiser and more effective strategy would be for partisans to appeal to the better angels of our nature. So, instead, perhaps, they should consider this:

Not a single swing voter was persuaded to embrace Seth Rogen’s cause by his treatment of Ryan; Lewandowski did not win a single crossover vote for the GOP by mocking a disabled child; and not a single independent voter in a key congressional district was inspired to vote for a Democrat by the expulsion of Sarah Sanders from the Red Hen restaurant. Instead, the tribal lines were reinforced, with each side reinforcing their collective sense of victimization and fury.

Meanwhile, voters who are part of an inchoate coalition of the decent found themselves more alienated than ever by the jerks who now dominate our political culture.

Yes, it's funny that Sykes acts as if he's not an active participant in the Summer of Jerkitude. He genuinely seems to believe that he hasn't been a jerk, that he has behaved in a civil manner and is above all the ugliness.

That doesn't fly here in Wisconsin.

Given his experience with how the Leftists behaved in Wisconsin during the Act 10 battle, Sykes should realize that his often vicious attacks on conservatives did not persuade a single Wisconsin voter to abandon Trump and, in effect, support the Leftist agenda.