Debate as sport as spectacle as debate

Roland Barthes wrote a remarkable essay sometime way back in the 70s before wrestling was even remotely fashionable in which he argued that wrestling was not about who wins, in terms of consequences, nor about whether it is 'rigged' or not,. He said something along the lines of 'what matters is not what one thinks about the matter at all, but what one sees'. The audience attended wrestling matches like they attended opera to experience the event as pure spectacle, an aesthetic pleasure devoid of practical implications and moral valuations--precisely because the 'morality' of the event: Bart Bad against Dudley DoRight (or whatever) was so obviously foisted up AS rigged.

I think what happened in last night's debate was John McCain playing spectacle to his right wing base, going on about sacrifice and 'dying in vain', etc... these are all sound bites that are so abused by the Republicans they've lost for many of us any moral compulsion--they have become theater. (Even Chris Matthews went off on McCain for pulling that one out again)

Obama rightly called him on it. But it was a quick counter stroke (I have a bracelet too), not so much raised as theater to make the audience 'feel' but to do the reverse, ground the audience into the actuality of what war so blithely entered into actually means.

In fact, maybe what we were seeing was the difference between a classic Jansenist sport like boxing, a demonstration of excellence, getting in exquisitely executed jabs and then, backing off because the point isn't to destroy your opponent but appeal to the judges (the audience) regarding the execution of the matter and a prima donna of the wrestling arena who understands that his appeal lies largely in making a larger than life spectacle of the event, by, for example, appealing maudily to the audience without taking much note of his opponent at all--unless it's to quite dramatically try to trash him. Objective reality never enters into it from the wrestler's perspective--it's always rigged. Conversely, the boxer is made accutely aware of reality and knows that where he stands and what he's about must be accurately carried out or someone could --and probably will-- get badly hurt.