Political debate endures everything from brilliant speeches to offensive and provocative language. Dialectical fights typical of tumultuous taverns are nothing new. Politicians represent their voters and embrace the right to say whatever they like. But the general public also appreciates subtleties, nuances and consensuses. 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 opponent, but is practiced between government partners, allies and travel companions. The old socialists do not attack the right, but attack their own or those who were once theirs. Felipe González and Alfonso Guerra fight mercilessly against Pedro Sánchez and his strategy to get invested at any cost. Guerra appeared on television yesterday ridiculing Yolanda Díaz with sexist tones about the times she goes to the hairdresser. And Puigdemont responded from Waterloo saying that "there are politicians who, when they speak, raise the price of quicklime". Everything is worth it.
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 Since Sánchez's socialism, the old guard has been accused of being old and outdated. Watch out for fights between socialists. Historians know about the slap that Luis Araquistáin, of the Largo Caballero faction, gave to Julián Zugazagoitia, who represented the moderate sector of Indalecio Prieto, in the Glass Palace of Madrid's Retiro Park. That slap was the metaphor for the breakup of the party in 1936.
The divisions on the right are shown to be equally cainite both within Vox and the PP. They also surface because of the simple fact that the popular spokesman, Borja Sémper, dares to speak in Basque in Congress.
Seen from the edge of the political media circus, we must remember that reaction of Azaña when a deputy let loose an impertinence in the Courts: "Allow me to turn red for your honor". They represent us, but they do not serve us. They go their own way and do not hide it, and cause disaffection and distance.
