Election 2012, United States — December 9, 2011 11:48 pm

A Strong Response

One of the benefits of living with people who make their academic homes in seven different Harvard departments is that you get some pretty interesting tidbits that you wouldn’t hear otherwise.

My music major roommate, for instance, recently sent an email to our email list:

Just realized this: the music in Rick Perry’s new anti-gay ad is by Aaron Copland, a famous 20th Century American composer…who was an outspoken gay Jew. [Update: the music is not actually by Copland, but is a cheap knock-off of sorts of Copland's Appalachian Spring according to The New Yorker music critic Alex Ross '90.]

Copland also supported the Communist Party in the 1930s.

This revelation was surprising, but by no means the most surprising aspect of the mini-firestorm that has been the reaction to Perry’s “Strong” ad.

To be honest, I have been most surprised by the fact that everyone else seems, well, surprised.

I suppose upon first seeing the ad (due to my Politico procrastination during reading period, I saw it fairly early on) I expected some small degree of outrage among the Harvard student body and the blogosphere. Many people, however, are acting like President Obama just hurled a racial epithet at black people.

Did you not think Rick Perry believed these things? Really, if we’re going to be honest, this is hardly even gay-bashing by this Republican primary’s standards. Rick Santorum, probably the only person in the race who actually cares about social issues, routinely blames the breakdown of the American family—and by association the growing acceptance of homosexuals—for the country’s precarious economic position.

Furthermore, Facebook and the interwebs more broadly are overflowing with people who seem to think that this was actually a bad political move for Perry. This is dumbfounding. Perry’s campaign is on its last breath after the “Oops,” incident. If he wants to stick around in this race he needs to outflank Newt Gingrich on the right, and—just as importantly—he needs to hang around long enough for people to remember Gingrich’s baggage and forget Perry’s debate debacle. That requires money. The “Strong” ad is a quite transparent attempt to woo evangelical voters and donors. Sure, long-term, were Perry to win the nomination, the ad could cost him in a general election, but you can’t afford to be thinking long-term when you’re at 6 percent in the polls and are running to win, not to put issues on the table or set up a 2016 run.

To be honest, I’m not even willing to call the ad a political mistake yet. What was the underlying message of the ad? That Christians are scorned by our secular society, and that Perry is willing to stand up despite that. The blowback over the ad supports that thesis better than any comprehensive analysis of American society ever could. The ad has people talking about Perry and not just about the Mitt v. Newt battle. I guarantee you it has evangelicals thinking that Perry is the candidate that most deserves their donation.

The other surprising aspect of the response to the ad has been its rapid meme-ification. Memes and parodies based on the commercial have exploded, and generally poke fun at the ad as reflecting an unpopular, reprehensible, and even evil opinion. On the surface, these are all just funny jokes at the expense of a candidate that large swaths of the internet find offensive.

I think they say something more important about our political culture.

I don’t want to be a curmudgeon and come down against memes (who doesn’t love a good lolcat every now and then?), but the immediate impulse to lampoon someone you disagree with strikes me as less-than-helpful to the democratic process.

Rick Perry, despite the political motivations for running the ad, really believes what he’s saying. More than that, he holds at least some of the opinions expressed in the ad because of his religion. While this doesn’t strike me as quite as making-fun-of-him-because-of-his-religionish as the truly stupid Tebowing trend, it certainly doesn’t acknowledge those basic facts.

As a Christian, I can think of more than a few good counterarguments to Perry’s ad that don’t include associating him with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. It seems to me that advancing arguments as to why you think he’s wrong would be considerably more constructive than libelously suggesting that he likes Rebecca Black.

I know that the memeifiers aren’t trying to be constructive. I know they’re just trying to get a laugh. But when we as a society immediately jump to mocking someone that throws out an opinion we find disagreeable, something is wrong. Rick Perry might not really be strong. He might be flat-out wrong. But we’re no stronger if we snicker instead of standing up and saying why he’s wrong.

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Author: Paul Schied Paul Schied is the Online Editor for the Harvard Political Review. As a writer, Paul tries to bring a moderate perspective to domestic politics on the site. He values discussion and disagreement above all, but rails against the inadequacies and inefficiencies of partisan politics. Paul studies government as a junior at the College, and has written on everything from stem cell research to congressional jockeying to literature and censorship. Paul is an avid Chicago sports fan and plays midfield for the Harvard Club Lacrosse team while serving as the HPR's self-appointed resident lax bro. He is a music snob who likes bands with weird names that you’ve probably never heard of.

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Karen Luda

The essayist says that the meme-mongers aren’t trying to be constructive and are just trying to get a laugh, but he’s wrong. Humor is a powerful weapon and a quite effective way to show where one stands and to combat offensive ideas.
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Jay Jonson

Matt Shuman wrote, “Music shouldn’t be political.” Inasmuch as Copland is one of the most political composers in American history, who wrote some of the most quintessential “American” music, including music heavy-laden with ideology, such as the celebration of the “common man” and of such political figures as Abraham Lincoln, that is a very weird comment. Copland’s music is used on patriotic occasions, ranging from Independence Day celebrations and Presidential inaugurations, precisely because it is political. He was also subjected to humiliating interrogation by the House UnAmerican Activities Committee during the heyday of McCarthyism because he was himself intensely political.
Drek

I’m a proponent of decency in dialogue and debate, as you seem to desire with your closing statement. Stating also in the comments, that mockery can damage political debate.

Yet, I see this advertisement preempting political discourse to obtain notoriety through unearned means. You state that this is to get him to hang around long enough to let attention spans forget the “Oops Incident.” Or let Gingrich’s baggage show up and level the field for Perry.

If this constitutes constructive political discourse, then internet memes are the score cards it deserves.

This ad makes a mockery of political discourse and citizens looking for answers. It’s inherently cynical.

I do believe political dialogue is important. I don’t believe mobilizing religious fear, as a spearhead against the rights of people with differing sexual outlooks, to cover up one individual’s inadequacy in presenting debatable ideas – as political dialogue.

There’s entirely another side:

Do you expect polite, tame commentary from a queer community that historically has been stereotyped and alienated? A group of people that has struggled against being actively punished in daily aspects of their lives?

Internet memes are just the tip of the iceberg for marginalized individuals to express anger. They do say something about our political culture…

Bring us someone that doesn’t rely on fear and bigotry, to belie the fact they have no rational solutions to our current struggles.
Jay Jonson

Matt Shuman also wrote, “There’s a reason that Copland didn’t like talking about his personal life: he thought it may alienate some of his fans, which could have prevented them from ever hearing his work in the first place. ”

More likely, the reason Copland did not talk truthfully about his personal life is that he could have been imprisoned for his homosexuality and, more likely, would certainly have lost commissions and his status as a respected and, then, revered composer. The reason so many gay people were closeted in the 1940s and 1950s was not because the closet was comfortable or they were so enamored of privacy: there were laws in all 50 states that could have subjected them to draconian jail sentences and have cost them their jobs. We forget the past at our peril.
SusanB

I think some of the memes have been very skewering as they point out WHY Perry is wrong using humor and sarcasm. No, this isn’t going to change the minds of the evangelical voters Perry is courting, but it does isolate those right-wing opinions and point out to mainstream Republicans why some people have abandoned their party.

Considering all the evangelical Republican pandering to Jews last week, this one is my favorite:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=W-tjWoRPaI0
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Erica

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with meme response at all. In fact, it merely highlights a greater problem in our political process that has existed long before memes became a mainstream part of our culture.

Do you see meme responses like this to actual serious political discourse? No. You see it in response to ridiculous statements and acts, pointing at their inanity and insanity. For example, the meme in response to the cop tear-gassing Berkeley’s passive protestors. Memes often only highlight the strangeness and ridiculousness of whatever they are mocking. Further, memes are often not very political themselves. I’ve seen plenty of political responses to Rick Perry. Few citizens, if any, are going to be thinking of these memes when they go to the ballot box.

Moreover, it’s not as if the mocking of political candidates is anything new. We’ve had SNL and stand-up comics mocking politicians long before we had memes.

And please point out to me anything worthy of serious political debate in Perry’s ad, because I don’t see it. Even in terms of reflecting bigoted opinions about gay people, it doesn’t state them in the explicit means necessary for open debate. He doesn’t even directly state his opinion against gays in the military. He just says there’s something wrong with a country that has gays serving in the military that DOESN’T allow kids to celebrate Christmas in school (the latter of which is simply untrue). He doesn’t even come right out and say “I support Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” or “I support government funding of religious institutions/schools.” There isn’t even an opinion to argue with, it’s pure rhetoric/sentiment made to, as you mentioned in your own article, glibly win over evangelicals and people on the far right who are supporters of American Values and want to use the Left as a scapegoat.

Perry’s own defense of the ad speaks volumes, as he continually blames our current administration, not even for economic woes which would be debate-worthy, but for a fictional crack down on Christmas!

The problem isn’t the memes, the problem is reflected by the memes. You can’t make a silk purse our of a sow’s ear. The memes merely reflect the vapidity intrinsic to the political process as a whole.
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James Moffatt

Great article for the most part. My sticking point is where you express concern that this gets close to “Mocking him for his religion”.

I understand that Perry’s morally reprehensible views that homosexuals should have less rights in the US are are firmly rooted in his religion, and that his religion is a deeply held belief. I also understand that he really does believe what he’s saying. I just don’t see the relevancy of those points, nor why they need pointing out.

That paragraph seems to imply that his vehement belief in homosexuals being undeserving of civil rights is somehow better than if he didn’t really believe that and was pandering to the base. How is that the case?

Is it really better that Perry is an actual bigot rather than a fake one? And how is the fact that his religion is partly to blame for his bigotry at all relevant? You come awfully close to suggesting that we should tiptoe carefully around deriding and shunning people from the public discourse for their morally reprehensible views simply because they have a strong religious conviction.

I do not believe that lampooning people for holding ridiculous views on minority rights is “unhelpful” or “Unconstructive”. I strongly believe that anyone who honestly is that much of a bigot *should* be laughed out of the debate.

If we instead take them seriously and engage them in proper debate, no matter how soundly we refute their views we still lend them an air of legitimacy by engaging with them at all. I believe this is related to what many call “The Oxygen of Publicity”.

In summary, I guess I agree with a lot of what you say here. I disagree entirely, however, with this high minded attempt to say that we should engage with idiots rather than mocking and shunning them from the discourse simply because their awful views are backed by a firm conviction.
Paul Schied

Just a quick clarification towards James’s point:

I didn’t mean to imply that being a real bigot is any better than being a fake bigot. Being a bigot is a bad thing in all instances. I was emphasizing that he believes what he is saying in an effort to take a step back and try to put myself (and any readers that care to join me) in his shoes. I believe the things I say, but I can’t know any more than anyone else if those things are true or good positions to hold, etc. Granted, the things I say aren’t bigoted, but that doesn’t change the fact that I don’t want someone else to marginalize me because they don’t agree with me.

You’re right that this approach is probably too high-minded, and that acknowledging someone’s views gives them an air of legitimacy. I’m just hyperaware of the dangers of creating an environment where unpopular views aren’t welcome. I’d prefer to respond to Rick Perry by saying that we should give all people the opportunity to serve their country and that the Constitution rightly warns against the government’s establishment of religion than by making a video with a butt photoshopped onto his head.

The point made by a few other commenters that Perry’s ad doesn’t deserve to be engaged through discourse because it isn’t discourse itself is an interesting one, and one I find plausible. My only response would be to say that just because Perry isn’t playing on a particularly high playing field, doesn’t mean we have to play down to his level.

If you don’t think it’s worth your time, ignore it. If you think you need to voice your disagreement, then do so. I think that saying you disagree is, on average, less damaging to the political environment than memeing it. But that’s just me. Meme away if you like. The same right that let’s him make that commercial let’s you mock the heck out of it.
Ethan

Good column, but I’m going to have to remain in the ranks of those who dumbfound Mr. Schied by believing that “Strong” is a darkly comical miscalculation that will be remembered right alongside Dukakis and the tank. Perry has money to burn and obviously had to do something, but the fact remains that he cannot win the nomination, no matter how thoroughly he services Iowa’s vaunted religious right. This is a millstone that Perry will be forced to defend (“I wasn’t actually denigrating LGBT soldiers who would die for me! How could you possibly believe that, even though I pretty much came right out and said it?”) for the rest of his political career.
http://twitter.com/pgofhsm PG

Another data point toward indicating that “Tebowing” is not really meant to be nasty toward its namesake: Frank Bruni, in a column about his peculiar admiration for Tebow, “He genuflects so publicly and frequently that to drop to one knee in the precise way he does has been given its own word, along with its own Web site, where you can see photographs of people Tebowing inside St. Peter’s, in front of the Taj Mahal, on sand, on ice and even underwater.
That zeal doesn’t go over so well with many football enthusiasts, me included. Tebow performs a sort of self-righteous bait-and-switch — you come for scrimmages and he subjects you to scriptures — and the displeasure with that is also writ colorfully on the Web, in Tebow-ridiculing Twitter feeds and Facebook pages, one devoted entirely to snapshots through time of Tebow in tears. An emotional man, he has traveled a weepy path to this point.
But the intensity of the derision strikes me as unwarranted, in that it outdoes anything directed at, say, the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, accused repeatedly of sexual assault, or other players actually convicted of burglary, gun possession and other crimes. In a league full of blithe felons, Tebow and his oppressive piety don’t seem like such horrendous affronts at all.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/11/opinion/sunday/bruni-tim-tebows-gospel-of-optimism.html

Note that the above quote *contrasts* Tebowing websites with those expressing overt displeasure with Tebow’s religiosity.
Chris Jillings

Paul,

Your post is just plain wrong. Perry’s ad is evil and a lie.

1- Students *can* pray in American schools; teachers just can’t lead the prayers.

2- Every President that I have heard in my life has made a big deal of their Christianity. Not one has hidden it.

3- The logic of disallowing gays in the military is exactly that used to separate black units from white.

The correct response to evil _is_ mockery. As a Christian it is my duty to mock this stupidity and evil and keep it from taking on a more substantial role – ie President.

So mock away:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtFzuGeCfkc
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