It’s Time to Boo

Abstract

In this piece the author questions audience behavior in the 2012 Republican primary campaign for U.S. President. Why do some ideas and performances resonate to the point of producing overt response? What underlying elements condition an audience to boo or applaud? The cultural climate of talk radio and other heated rhetoric contributes to creating conditions ripe for explosion in this context. The author develops a personal poetic response to two incidents: An audience booing a gay soldier who objected to the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, and an audience cheering for the death penalty.