Political debate endures everything, from brilliant speeches to offensive and profane language. Dialectical fights typical of tumultuous taverns are nothing new. Politicians represent their voters and have the right to say whatever they want. But the general public also appreciates subtleties, nuances and consensus. Despite the ambient noise, many of us have understood that it is more interesting to convince than to impose, to reason than to shout, to look for meeting points instead of waiting for the opponent in a corner to give him a verbal beating.
The novelty is that the insult is no longer directed only at the adversary, but is practiced between government partners and allies. The old socialists do not attack the right, but rather they attack their own or those who once were theirs. Felipe González and Alfonso Guerra fight openly against Pedro Sánchez and his strategy to be inaugurated at any price. Guerra came out yesterday ridiculing Yolanda Díaz with sexist tones about the times he goes to the hairdresser. And Puigdemont responded from Waterloo saying that “there are politicians who when they speak raise the price of quicklime.” Anything goes.
Junts and Esquerra hate each other so much politically that there is little difference between what they say about each other in private and what they express in public. Since Sánchez’s socialism, the old guard is accused of being old and outdated. Beware of fights between socialists. Historians know about the slap that Luis Araquistáin, from the Largo Caballero faction, gave Julián Zugazagoitia, who represented the moderate sector of Indalecio Prieto, in the Palacio de Cristal in Madrid. That slap was the metaphor for the breakup of the party in 1936.
The divisions on the right appear equally cainite within both Vox and the PP. They also surface due to the mere fact that the popular spokesperson, Borja Sémper, dares to speak in Basque in Congress in the middle of the linguistic debate.
Looked at from the edge of the political media circus, it is worth remembering Azaña’s reaction when a deputy made an impertinence in the Cortes: “Allow me to blush on behalf of your honor.” They represent us, but they do not serve us. They go about their business and don’t hide it.
