Play the Ball….

Aside from the five pages dedicated to the ‘red scare’ created by Sinn Fein and SIPTU (street warriors) being on the same side of the fence as the Labour party, there is a lesson in today’s Sunday Independent. A lesson in politics from Willy O’Dea:

There is a world of difference between the traditional cut and thrust of politics and coarse, personalised invective.

The traditional style is primarily about the argument of policies and ideas. You challenge your opponent’s position by force of argument and analysis. There is respect for your opponent. You may not personally like your rival, but you accept their sincerity and integrity unless you have verifiable cause to doubt it.

The coarse approach not only requires that the attacker show no respect to their rival, it is based on effectively de-humanising them. It is no holds barred. The attacker ignores facts and arguments and whips up public anger by debasing their rival’s integrity. There is also an insidious version of the tactic. It is one that has been gradually creeping into our political dialogue. It substitutes misrepresentation for absolute lies, but includes the onslaught on integrity and credibility…
The “playing the man, not the ball” tactic may inflict damage on the target, but it is the body politic that will suffer in the longer term.

Apropos this lesson in playing the ball not the man (from Fianna Fail’s very own hatchet man) today’s take on the new Programme for Government has the following gem:

Brian Hayes, education spokesman for Fine Gael, said the proposal as agreed by Fianna Fail and the Greens would “send Irish education down the toilet”.

He said yesterday: “We didn’t agree with the introduction of fees but we suggested a student contribution. However, this document will send Irish education down the toilet, and it is clear now that given he put all his eggs in one basket, this is a resigning issue for [Education Minister] Batt O’Keeffe.”

Mr O’Keeffe was refusing to comment yesterday but his spokesman said that Mr Hayes’ call for him to resign was totally ridiculous and accused Mr Hayes blatant inconsistencies on the fees issue. He said: “This is typically vacuous stuff from a mere soundbite politician. Among Mr Hayes’ key weaknesses is that he is consistently inconsistent.”

Ball not man, eh? Or the other way around.