America's Short Attention Span

Bloggledygook has an alarming wake-up post about the big yawn Congress is showing to the impending visit here of new Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko:

Congress has yet to issue an invitation for him to speak to a joint session. Supposedly, no Senator or Congressman, save one, has shown any interest.

The United States has actually cut aid to Ukraine since the Orange Revolution and now it looks to snub a man who has endured poisoning to see his country free itself from corruption and dictatorship.

Bloggledy links to Publius Pundit, who quotes the incriminating figures from the Washington Post ("Funding Scarce for Export of Democracy"). He joins in Publius' call for a letter-writing campaign to Congress to protest this disgrace.

Do we only love the moment when the precision bombs detonate and the statues topple, when the brave elated crowds fill our TV screens? Is freedom just another form of propaganda entertainment, or is it something we have an actual commitment to? When it comes to new democracies, are we the sort of pro-lifers who go, "Once it's out of the womb, let it fend for itself?"

- amba

Comments

[Daniel]

Very well put. As Glenn Reynolds often says, democratic revolution is a "process not an event." We are so enamored of the moment, which is indeed important, but we often lack the attention span that life and liberty require.

Nice place you have here. Thanks for the link.

[Tom Strong]

Despite my dislike of the current Congress, I found myself rather shocked by this news. To my democracy-loving ways, the Orange Revolution was a huge deal, and great story to boot. I pretty blithely assumed, following our President's rhetoric, that everyone else thought it was a big deal, too.

Guess that's what I get for not watching TV.

[amba]

Daniel, I think it's partly a matter of being trained by the media. When the "mediathon" is over, our collective attention wanders on. We have to make a deliberate effort (as many bloggers do -- thank you) to stay on a story. If we are passive, our attention will ebb and flow with the tides of cable-news sensation. Congress's, however, should not. But Congress counts on our having a short attention span. This is why news-as-entertainment, while it can get huge numbers involved for the duration of a miniseries, is bad for the staying power of citizenship.