Has Public Discourse Become Too Pathetic?

As human beings it is natural that we express and respond to emotion. That is why we have dedicated one third of our rhetoric to pathos. However, we need to realize that to make a solid argument, we must also use the other two thirds of the triangle, logic and ethics.

Public discourse has in fact become very pathetic. In some ways I enjoy it, for example when John Stuart and Steven Colbert use humor to relay the news. Often times, however, pathos can contort the truth by adding feeling or emotion to the words reporting facts. This doesn't occur as much in humor, atleast as Stuart and Colbert use it. I think this is because sarcasm and humor make it easier to tell the truth. You can be politically incorrect, offensive and controversial while at the same time having people's attention - because, of course, its all a "joke". For many other emotions in public discourse, I feel as though they are purposefully added to get an emotional appeal, and to me, playing with people's emotions is a sleezy way to state an argument. For important political issues or relaying the news, using emotions takes away from the logic of the report. I know in many ways pathos is a necessary component of logic, but leave that to the individual. In public discourse, we can tone down the pathos.