I’ve got a confession to make; when and if, (And there are a lot of ifs!) I watch interviews where ‘politicians’ are the guests it is not with the intention to beef up my knowledge in politics; it is to give my nerves some respite because there is so much of the wrong things is happening on this planet. In fact mine is not only about respite, it is also about comedy. There is so much ‘comedy’ in many of these ‘politically’ charged’ interviews that you feel sorry for pole who haven’t yet discovered their ‘comedic’ genes and think of themselves as no-nonsense hard punchers.
Look, about these TV interviews, some are doing very good jobs. I mean they really do their homework and act like interviewers and not interrogators. Yes, unfortunately there are those who seem to be conducting some sort of high-secret debriefing rather than interviewing. And the interviewees! Aren’t some of them real characters! Had he been alive Shakespeare would have wrote ten more masterpieces! Still, however unscrupulous the interviewees might be they deserve respect. At least they have to be given the space to explain their stand on matters however silly they might sound. I mean interrupting every other sentence is not a sign of being a hardcore interviewer.
“What do you plan to do in the education sector?”
“Well, as you know our education sector is weak and…” We know that; can you please get to the point?
“…everybody knows education is very important in the development of…” What the hell is this! Is the guy on Valium or something! Can you just tell us what YOU plan to do?
“…as you know the previous regimes haven’t worked hard enough to…” Tell him to get to the point in five seconds or tell him get him out of the studio ASAP! (I didn’t say “Lock him up!”) Interviews could be creepier than you think it is possible.
So these days when I watch political interviews, mine is not about getting much information; it is not about getting the chance to understand the stands of the other groups or fellows on important national issues. It has become more of an entertainment, so little of which we’ve these days. Where have ideas gone? I mean where are the real ideas, the real arguments?
How we got where we are, only God knows.
There were days when kids asked about their dreams talked of being doctors, engineers and the like. Much of the wishes were all about acquiring more knowledge. No one rally said, “I want to be a politician.” No way! Ethiopian political field has never been as level as that. Politics seems to be not something that needed long term planning. I mean you don’t say “I’ll read everything from good old Mao to Ayn Rand and prepare myself for a career in politics.” Never does that happen. Politics is almost something you stumble on. You are on the long road of life and at some spot and all of a sudden you’re a politician! Three cheers for you. And you thought miracles don’t really happen!
But mostly as the many TV interviews attest, most politicians are ‘accidental politicians.’ Look what scares me is what the horrifically dangerous and divisive rhetoric do to young minds. It’s really frightening. The young are growing up thinking politics is about playacting and not about ideas. Yes, that’s what we mostly see, playacting. On many products you find those expiry dates… ‘Best before April 2021’ or something like that. I don’t know if it is a blessing or a curse that we can’t play the expiry-date card on us humans. How nice it would have been if politicians have expiry dates; isn’t that one hell of an idea! “Best before June 2020; unless significantly upgraded.” There you are!
One problem is most of those guys in politics seem to be living in deep ‘political coma,’ whatever that’s supposed to mean. And when they wake u…
“What year are we in?”
“2020.”
“How long have I been in a coma?”
“About forty-something years.”
“Is the colonel still in power? (Ha!)
Believe me, many politicians are still that far back! Look ‘imperialism’ hasn’t been given that last blow, workers of much of the world are in fact in ‘more chains,’ and ‘Red’ is no more the favorite color of protest! And this guy who remained in ‘political coma’ wakes up into a world where Ché Guevara is no more a rallying revolutionary figure and only a sticker on the windshields of minibuses.
“What year are we in?”
“2020.”
“How long have I been in a coma?”
“About twenty-something years.” (Ha!)
The problem is that such guys never upgrade their knowledge. The only upgrading they do< if we could call it that, is get more TV and radio exposure.
Look, you don’t need to torment your mind trying to figure out what they are saying; why go into so much pain where it is only words without the tiniest drop of concept. You try your best to at least listen to have they have to say; the problem is they have nothing to say. You do your best to try to understand them, and it just doesn’t work. It is like there is this strikingly decorated package with all sorts of stamps all over it. You think, “Whatever is inside must be as dear as one of Ali Baba’s treasures. You open the package, and alas! It is empty! That’s what it is; empty as empty could ever be!
Sorry to say it, but these days most ‘political interviews’ are much talk, much wind. That says it all!
The Ethiopian Herald May 22/2020
