Insulting Us with Insults

By Hugh Sidey

"And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye?"

There is a little religion from a noted practitioner that if invoked by Ronald Reagan and Walter Mondale would help relieve this ailing political campaign of some of its miseries before it is too late.

The wisdom was reported by Luke, the storytelling healer who became a first-rate campaigner of sorts himself some 2,000 years ago. Granted, that advice is a little strong for modern American political hyperbole, but then these times may demand radical doctrine because rarely has a presidential campaign begun so negatively and had the potential to descend into a cauldron of concentrated accusation undiluted by reason or enlightenment.

These past few days of campaign charge and countercharge have been an insult to almost any U.S. citizen's intelligence. Reagan saw Democrats as "a pack of pessimists" dragging us into the valley of fear. Mondale warned that the average American will "get poorer" under Reagan. Both contentions are provably false.

Geraldine Ferraro noted there had been more small-business closings than at any other time since the Depression, conveniently forgetting that 600,000 new businesses were started last year, a record, and when we get that many boomers there always are those who go bust. George Bush worked it around to blame Mondale for the Soviet walkout from the arms talks, suggesting that they were hoping Mondale would be elected and be a pushover at the negotiating table. That is a stretch of the imagination that should be in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Reagan "has conducted an arms race on earth," boomed Mondale. A race generally implies two parties. The Soviets contributed a little bit to this problem, if Mondale had not noticed. And as if that were not enough, Speaker Tip O'Neill advised Mondale not to be such a nice guy and to lay it on Reagan even thicker, which could mean the level of political bilge will rise higher.

Why in this age of communication and education must we continue to get campaign rhetoric that seems to be out of the Dark Ages? Even a good number of the partisans who go to the rallies and cheer the exhortations walk away admitting it is mostly malarkey and we deserve better.

We brought it on ourselves. Because these campaigns are perpetual, we already know the candidates. We have watched every gray hair appear on Reagan's head, asked him about his sex life in the White House, and examined every word he has uttered. We have nurtured Mondale through twelve Senate years, four years as Vice President and four years as candidate. We know how he eats, sleeps, thinks and talks.

The chances of learning more about their views on the issues are remote. A presidential-election campaign is a retreat from specifics, a time of calculated vagueness to thwart adversaries until after the vote.

But the great television theater we have created demands more. It demands action, color, drama, confrontation. About the only way to catch the jaded eyes and ears of the anchormen is to hurl outrageous accusations, to dig up forgotten skeletons, to manufacture blame. An industry of inventive taunts is springing up this fall among the candidate handlers.

If it keeps going this way we could be on the verge of a gigantic political tune-out until November and the vote. We are close to being satiated with angry debates, confrontations, denunciations. One's senses are dulled by shouts, blares and baloney.

These truly extraordinary men and women running for highest office are capable of better -and they owe it to the country in return for the honor they have been given.