5
OPINION

Thursday, June 13, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
5
OPINION

I

sn’t that headline so ironic,
given that our president gained
so much immediate coverage
and support because he is, in fact,
a celebrity? I know that we have
had
celebrity-politicians
before,
including but not limited to Arnold
Schwarzenegger and Ronald Rea-
gan. If Donald Trump and Ronald
Reagan aren’t two great examples
of why we shouldn’t put celebrities
in office, we clearly have some dis-
agreements to work through, but
that’s not what this column is about.
What about how we celebritize pol-
iticians after they enter office?
With the rise of social media,
and the exploitation of it by politi-
cians desperate to capture young
audiences, politicians are being
viewed more as quasi-celebrities
than public servants. In my own
memory, this started during the
Obama administration, and has
only gotten worse. This treatment
is dangerous — celebrity worship
makes it more difficult to hold peo-
ple accountable, or to view them in
an objective light. Take Obama for
example: He is viewed (at least by
Democrats) as the model president,
the perfect politician. His likeness
has been used in countless memes
and novelty t-shirts, and during his
presidency he appeared on many
late-night shows. And while I do
believe he was a good president, no
president or politician will ever be
perfect; in fact, Obama had a lot to
be held accountable for that was
glossed over in Saturday Night Live
skits and silly merchandise.
Going into the 2020 election, this
trend continues. One doesn’t need
to be reminded how celebritized
Trump is with his overdone rallies,
infamous hats and tweeting tenden-
cies — and it’s not doing this country
any good. With Trump’s amplified
platform we’ve seen violent racist
protests, a nationwide rise in hate
crimes and horrific treatment of
women and immigrants.
Trump is an extreme example
of demagoguery given respect, but
celebritizing politicians is a prob-
lem on the Democratic side, too,
albeit on a less dangerous scale.
We have presidential candidates on
the cover of magazines and getting
fashion advice from reporters. The
people who will make decisions
on war, healthcare, gun control
and immigration are getting their
crowd sizes compared like two pop
stars on dueling world tours.
Taking away the cultural lens of
viewing politicians and political
candidates is a double-edged sword.

On one hand, conversations will be
more policy-driven and maybe we
can finally stop talking about who
is more “likable” and start talking
about who is least likely to ruin this
country further. Yet on the other
hand, popular media is a more
accessible route to Americans, as
not everyone wants to sit down and
listen to Wolf Blitzer, but many peo-
ple will tune into Jimmy Fallon or
Stephen Colbert.
So where does the burden fall?
Is it on the media to stop treating
politicians like celebrities, or is it
on us? The responsibility truly lies
with both. Stop inviting politicians
on sketch comedy or talk shows
and using that opportunity to play
silly games or tousle their hair.
And if you must have them, at least
grill them a little bit. Don’t be their
free advertisement — these politi-
cians are there to serve you, not the
other way around.
As for us, the people, let’s make an
effort to hold our elected officials
and political hopefuls accountable,
to view them through an objective
lens. It is easy to get swept up in
the excitement of politics — as a
Public Policy student, I know this
too well. You want to idolize these
people, people who are in a posi-
tion you dream of being in, passing
legislation you’ve fought for. But no
political job should be guaranteed,
and approval from constituents
should be earned through good
actions rather than likable, care-
fully planned interactions.
Washington
already
comes
across as an exclusive place. The
government that is supposed to be
working for us is instead hiding
behind free Smithsonian admis-
sion and chipper Congressional
tours. It is natural to get excited
when Elizabeth Warren calls you
on the phone or Obama surprises
the crowd on stage. But keep in
mind that these are things that
these politicians should be doing
— we gave them their job, so they
owe us their time. The exclusiv-
ity of politics only leads to closed
doors and lackluster responses to
real concerns and questions. If
Congress won’t implement term
limits, the American people can.
Celebrities are celebrities for a rea-
son — there will never be another
Bowie or Beyoncè. But the country
is never going to run out of oppor-
tunistic politicians with a pocket-
ful of empty promises.

Stop treating politicians like celebrities

SAMANTHA DELLA FERA | COLUMN

Samantha Della Fera can be reached at

samdf@umich.edu.

SILAS LEE | OP-ED

I

t is not often I wrap
myself in the flag or get
misty-eyed with patriotic
sentiment. Perhaps this is
because, as a history major,
it is easy to get lost in the
doom and gloom of most U.S.
history classes. Or perhaps I
am simply cynical by nature; I
hope this is not the case — but
maybe. In full awareness of
this country’s missteps over
the last two centuries — some
of them egregious — I believe
there are some moments when
we can hold our heads high
and proudly call ourselves
Americans.
Now, as a member of The
Daily, I also have great pride
in this newspaper and the
people with whom I work.
Unfortunately, there was a
grave oversight in last week’s
edition: Not one word was
written in the memory of the
finest men who ever called
themselves Americans — on
the 75th anniversary of their
sacrifice, no less. I was disap-
pointed to learn the stories
that were published instead
concerned only the political
sticking points of 2019 — the
issues which, by their nature,
divide us. And so, knowing
full well from the start that
my efforts will be insuffi-
cient, I commit my humble
talents to correct this mistake
and honor both the sacrifices
and triumphs of the men who
fought and fell three-quarters
of a century ago.
On June 6, 1944, Allied forc-
es, composed largely of Amer-
ican, British and Canadian
troops, landed on the beach-
es of Normandy in northern
France. Men plunged them-
selves into the raging, cold
seas of the English Channel
and marched headlong into a

hailstorm of bullets. This was
D-Day, the beginning of the
end of World War II. It was
because of this first assault
that Allied forces were able to
gain a foothold in continen-
tal Europe, liberate France,
push into Germany and finally
defeat Adolf Hitler.
I give this brief account of
the Second World War because
that war’s significance cannot
be overstated. It was this war
that brought down Hitler’s
Germany and allowed a new
age of freedom to take root,
not just in Europe, but around
the world. When the dust set-
tled, Nazi death camps were
destroyed, fascism had fallen
and the swastika lay atop a
pile of rubble once meant to be
the foundation of a 1,000-year
reign.

I am not saying today’s
politics are unimportant and
should not be discussed. They
should be. What I am saying is
this: The memory of the men
who brought down the Third
Reich deserves our fullest
devotion to preserving and
improving the nation they died
for. However, we cannot do
this if we lose sight of our his-
tory and emphasize only the
things which separate us. We
are the heirs of a great inheri-
tance, and we should endeavor

to deserve that inheritance by
building on the foundation our
forefathers lay — a foundation
of liberty, equality and unity.
In spite of our differences,
we share this history and we
share a future.
If nothing else, remember
this: The freedoms we do not
yet possess pale in compari-
son to the freedoms we cur-
rently enjoy. While we cry for
that more perfect union, we
must remember it will never
be perfect, but it is good. It
was good when it was con-
ceived. It was good when
our soldiers fought their way
across the beaches. It is good
now. But we can make it bet-
ter. The torch has been passed
to us, and we cannot allow
this American experiment to
fail after so much has been
dedicated to its success. As
we press on into the future,
we must carry our history
forward with us. If we do not,
we will have failed before we
have even begun.
And so, I leave you with the
same commission that was
given by Abaraham Lincoln
at another field where Ameri-
cans fought and died for what
they believed this country
was and for what it could be:
“It is for us the living, rath-
er, to be dedicated here to the
unfinished work which they
who fought here have thus far
so nobly advanced … That we
here highly resolve that these
dead shall not have died in
vain — that this nation, under
God, shall have a new birth
of freedom — and that gov-
ernment of the people, by the
people, for the people, shall
not perish from the earth.”

D-Day, a legacy and a future

Silas Lee can be reached at

silascl@umich.edu.

As we press
on into the
future, we
must carry
our history

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