Handling Political Hostility with a Bit of Fun
Op-Ed
The North American civilization, whatever it means, is fun to be into, including their political culture. The other day, having plunged into my daily journalistic chores, I briefly distracted myself from my routine by randomly browsing the internet, and guess what I came across? A four-year-old video recording of the Al Smith Dinner, a.k.a. the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Annual White Tie Dinner, supporting American children of different wants and needs. The renowned charity event hosted the-then presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton on October 20, 2016, who roasted each other with concomitant pleasure and vehemence, using their wild sense of humor every step of the way.
The level of hostility between the two is universally known. More bitterness is hard to imagine between two humans. But in America, the unimaginable may very well morph into the commonplace. That’s exactly why it was fun to watch them in action. The famous Foundation had built a get-together of the rich and famous, with all of the seated ensemble under the same roof, breathing the same American air – Catholics and Protestants, Republicans and Democrats, Straights and Gays. And this is where the real American soul prevails in general. They are (more often than not) fully determined to go into action when some crucial mission is asking for completion, and they know precisely what steps to take to bring the venture to triumph, doing this with utmost elegance, courage and decorum. Not all of them of course! I am talking only about real McCoy Americans.
Trump and Clinton hate each other, being miles apart on every single national issue, but they will stand together when America needs their hands clasped in unity, putting aside their innate vicious antagonism. Each would say: America above all! Being part of that charity dinner together, they both made speeches, as the protocol would dictate, bombarding each other with acid jokes and sour inferences, Don sounding like a regular Trump and Hillary acting like another sob sister. But during the entire strained altercation, the audience was supportive of both rivals and it was felt that each represented the same grandiose political culture, working to the benefit of their great country. Their sharp wit and obvious rancor, whetted tongue and shining intelligence would only impress the viewer and listener as a testimony to America’s greatness, packed full of political reason and acumen, inherited from their great predecessors, qualifying with dignity the Founding Fathers of the nation.
Having once again looked at that celebrated scene of America’s major politics, I felt there was something in the whole show that deserves to be taken as an example of political cohabitation that we, Georgians, have as yet failed to achieve in our national political landscape. We definitely need to grow up to match the American level and style of doing big politics. They know how to handle both love and hatred, if these epithets are relevant at all when we try to count the bones inside the body of political animals in the arena, and measure the length of their guts and strength of their nerves.
Trump and Hillary, having run into one another at the gala dinner, sculpted together the already bygone instant, which is forever preserved in American annals. What currently matters more is the Trump and Biden clash, which will also go down in history soon; all those events being strong and memorable paradigms of American political behavior, which the world looks up to as a helpful example, and considers in detail on a regular basis.
Our Georgia, with its lackadaisically maturing political culture, should have enough readiness and intellectual energy to know where the American political culture is coming from and is headed for. No, I don’t mean copying it! Georgia doesn’t have to mechanically copy anybody else’s notes to pass the current challenging examination. What we Georgians need to do now is look deeper into what seems more polished and efficient than our own political modus vivendi and operandi. Lucky are our American brothers and sisters to be already enjoying what we are still looking for.
By Nugzar B. Ruhadze
Cardinal Timothy Dolan sits between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump at the 2016 Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner. Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images