Saturday, June 22, 2013

How the parties view scandal...

From Crooks and Liars
(Click on the link to read more)

'Both Sides Do It' Differently: Scandals in US Politics


Liberals generally understand scandal in terms of "logos," as a breaking of the rules, once hidden, brought into the light. It is very much about the facts of the case, an empirical investigative process.

Conservatives generally understand scandal in terms of "mythos," as unmasking a violation of the sacred order of things - the sacred order being that conservatives and those they favor are on top, and everyone else is beneath them. In this view, the very existence of liberalism is scandalous, because liberalism posits a fundamental equality of people, rather than an immutable hierarchy. For conservatives, scandal is a spectacle, a morality play, whose facts are largely determined by how well they resonate with pre-established meanings.

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