George Will proves himself right

George Will's column in today's Washington post attacks the culture of anger:

Americans are infatuated with anger: It is democratic. Anyone can express it, and it is one of the seven deadly sins, which means it is a universal susceptibility. So in this age that is proud of having achieved "the repeal of reticence," anger exhibitionism is pandemic...

Many people who loathe George W. Bush have adopted what Peter Wood describes as "ecstatic anger as a mode of political action." Anger often is, Wood says, "a spectacle to be witnessed by an appreciative audience, not an attempt to win over the uncommitted."...

The anger directed at Bush today, like that directed at Clinton during his presidency, luxuriates in its own vehemence.

Mr. Noah responds with a letter to Mr. Will:

Dear Mr. Will,

I read your column in today's Washington Post, and I wholeheartedly agree that anger is too much part and parcel of our culture of political expression. The worst effect of this is that legitimate anger often gets drowned out in the sea of self-righteous indignation.

As a case in point, I would cite current anger toward George Bush's curtailment of Constitutional liberties. If there are any actions worth getting angry over in American politics, the denial of the rights of citizens to jury trial, habeas corpus, and protection from warrantless search must certainly be such actions. But this perfectly legitimate outrage blends into the background noise of general politico-tribal rage, and thus often loses legitimacy by association.

There are very real reasons to be angry at President Bush, Mr. Will. The fact that your column manages to successfully conflate these with less legitimate expressions of anger is proof positive of the damage that the culture of rage has wreaked upon our political discourse.

George Will has proven himself right. The cheapening of anger has harmed America, as demonstrated by the fact that George Will can get away with such a bullshit column as this one.