Immature Reactionary Politics

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/mar/05/harriet-harman-prime-ministers-questions

I am not going to moan about Harriet... I have enough moans about Jaqui... but I do want to address the issue generally!

As an agenda, I want to lay bear my frustration at the use of politics in the media limelight, the shameless abuse of public process for press use, and the blatant joy of politicians in indulging in abuse of each other.

I appreciate politics in this country is fundamentally rooted in making one party looked better than the other by insulting the other party, but this malice is no more welcome in Tesco's and Asda advertisements than it is in the House of Commons, in my mind.

Similarly to Mandelson using green goo in order to promote his causes, the blatant apublicisation of this issue made me retch during breakfast it was repeated over and over on radio four, not to mention the following day's papers. It honestly makes the media (black tops) behave like tabloids and is no better than the ludicrous expose of Jade Goody. it's not like there isn't anything interesting to report, after all a major war criminal in the Sudan, the continuing tensions in Gaza, more information on the statistics fiasco on knife crime, high-profile murders and rapes and child abuse, and even the unfathomable train crisis in Kent are nowhere near as important as Harriet Harman being mocked in Parliament!

While both the major party leaders are out of the country, this does not indicate good things for their deputy leaders, if they cannot attempt to tackle some of the major issues in the country without descending into classroom taunts and bullying. perhaps we give them an ASBO?!!

The feminist in me raises its controversial head and wonders if this is an underhand influence of the patriarchal state defaming yet another female who has raised herself to an apparently unacceptable height. Certainly I can't think of a male counterpart whose experience this level of animosity. While I appreciate her flaws, I do not like the assertion that she is the only member of parliament with flaws, or indeed the only member of the Labour Party.

The lack of support within her own party is also rather disheartening. while I don't align myself to a political party directly, I do believe in meritocracy and solidarity within the ranks. Then again, in a time of what is essentially a political crisis, is there any real surprise that the parties are turning on each other like a pack of wild dogs?

In short, I would love to see the politics taken more seriously in this country, but with media proclamations ridiculing politicians alongside reality TV stars, I have little anticipation of a return to the 1970s and 1980s awareness of politics. How can we expect future generations, or indeed our own, to develop any consciousness, interest or outrage towards how their country is run if our media choose to make a travesty of our politicians?