South of the Border, Below the Belt

BORDER POLITICIS Fences may make better neighbors but civil discourse facilitates relationships (Photos: AFP/Imagebank)

M ore than 80 years have passed since Franklin Delano Roosevelt took to the airwaves for his famous fireside chats radio broadcasts of ten to 30 minutes in which he clearly articulated his policies on the economy and then World War II to the American people.

Brevity may be the soul of wit but with 21st-century attention spans at ten to 30 seconds or limited to 140 characters many pols come across as lacking soul wit and sound judgment when they attempt to communicate their messages in bite-sized nuggets.

Attempting to score points with Donald Trump Binyamin Netanyahu found himself in a diplomatic bind last week after an ill-advised tweet praising Trump’s proposed border fence with Mexico.