CNN contributor Angela Rye is an intelligent and passionate commentator. She’s just not a very impressive debater.
Rather than debate her opponents in a confrontation of ideas, Rye employs anger and distraction to throw her opponents off-balance. Consider this clip from Wednesday evening in which Rye debated a Trump campaign official, Gina Loudon.
The problem with Rye’s approach is its disdain for that which debates are supposed to be. Namely, the confrontation of divergent ideas on matters of public importance. Instead, Rye uses emotion to vanquish dialogue. And while it might make for good political pageantry, Rye’s hostile interjections serve no intellectual interest. They do not even serve the most basic of all debating interests: presenting one’s argument in a way that can be understood.
Take Rye’s argument that “America has never been great.” While that contention is obviously a deeply controversial one, it also offers a baseline for valuable further dialogue. Whether or not each us thinks our nation is great, all Americans have a shared interest in the nation becoming greater. Rye should thus seek to back up her argument and persuade others of its veracity.
Unfortunately, on Wednesday evening at least, Rye had no interest in expanding on her point. Instead, she spluttered personal attacks: “[America] is not great because people like you come on and lie for the president of the united states.” Worse, Rye then contended that America could only be made great if bound to partisanship in the form of one party dominating Congress.
The founders would not welcome such discourse, for discourse it is not. Again, however, this is not to say that Rye shouldn’t have said America isn’t great. It is to say that she should have taken example from HBO series “The Newsroom,” and explained why she believes America is not great.
While I disagree with character Will McAvoy’s contention, he makes points worthy of contemplation and thus serving of America.
Still, all is not lost for debating discourse in America. If you want to see constructive debating, you should watch “The McLaughlin Group.” As in the scene below, each week our liberal panelists, Eleanor Clift and Clarence Page, offer tough, intellectually pointed debates with our standing conservative panelist, Pat Buchanan. Pat reciprocates in kind. And the nation is better off for it.
