Can we be serious for a second?

I’ve had enough of Big Bird. I don’t need any more binders full of women. I’m up to my eyeballs in clever Internet memes and I’ve seen every conceivable parody video of some Mitt Romney look-alike rapping about the 47 percent. Horses and bayonets, we get it. Malarkey.

OK. You’ve tweeted your clever tweet. Let’s move on.

There are actually some important issues at stake in this election, but let’s not have that interrupt the ongoing attempted sketch comedy show that’s airing on every possible medium of communication in the universe.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s a time and place for cutting satire and social commentary, but when the pointed jokes start outweighing serious discussion and discourse, I think we’ve got ourselves a problem. It’s starting to distract.

Yes, nobody’s ever going to confuse Mitt Romney with a blue-collar man of the people and President Barack Obama sure did blow it in the first debate, but with the election a week away, isn’t it time to take a look at the stuff of consequence for half a minute?

All these jokes are funny, but I think they’re clouding our collective vision.

Even Obama is getting involved in the months-long open mike night, which is disappointing because he’s somebody I support. Cracking “Sesame Street” jokes and diagnosing people with “Romnesia” (did Milton Berle write that one for you, Mr. President?) is beneath the office he holds.

It’s a device that also conveniently serves to draw attention away from the Benghazi catastrophe — people seem content accepting his B-movie Western sheriff line about “hunting down those responsible and bringing them to justice.”

Satisfied just as long as we get another Tumblr website with funny pictures of Mitt Romney and Muppets.

I’m even growing tired of Jon Stewart. He’s normally a helpful voice that cuts through all the noise and spin of the traditional media, but this year his “debate” with Bill O’Reilly was nothing more than a blatant attention grab disguised as a fundraiser for charity.

For all his rhetoric this year literally equating Fox News to a mountain of bull excrement, why lower yourself to the level of News Corp.’s chief bull colon pundit?

Because we’ve lost sight of what’s really at stake.

There are some big choices in this election, and we need serious people to make those choices. We need people who are informed on the issues and not just informed on what funny thing Stephen Colbert said last night.

The economy, women’s rights, any number of wars we may or may not be fighting at present and in the future — these are critical issues and we have before us two candidates who can take us in very different directions on those issues.

Let’s respect the system, respect the process and make an informed decision (unless you possessed all the originality, creativity and intellect to go out dressed as a cat this Halloween — in that case, please recuse yourself from this and all future elections).

Really, let’s just take this one thing seriously for one second, and then we can go back to being snarky and meme-y and obnoxious about literally every other thing that happens ever. We can go back to acting entitled and cynical and above it all.

But for just one minute, let’s be citizens and strive for that more-perfect union.

Thanks.

Kevin Slack is a senior television, radio and film major. His column appears weekly. He can be reached at khslack@syr.edu.

 

Published on October 30, 2012 at 12:23 am