Do you want to know why Republicans win? Why they can trash the economy and the turn around and say that the guy who's actually FIXING it should "fire his economic team" (John Boehner) and actually get people to believe that and give them credit for saying it?! Why Dick Cheney can say "Reagan proved deficits don't matter" and yet propagandize to get people all concerned about the DEFICIT (that's mostly the fault of HIM, not to mention his party) in the middle of an economic crisis that HIS PARTY ALSO STARTED, and NOT have people pelt him with rancid tomatoes?!
You know why this happens?
Because we really are a nation of fucking idiots. We're morons. Really.
And if the fact that George W. Bush got RE-elected wasn't enough evidence of out exceptional mediocrity, consider these polls that MSNBC was kind enough to pull together.
There are words for people like that: Morons. There are, of course, others. For a nice colorful list, check out the comment pages of just about any political forum. About all we're good at anymore is insulting each other. Conservatives are wrong all the time, yet seem to be able to convince everyone they're right. (That's about all they're really any good at, but again... hardly an awe insirping accomplishment if you consider the test scores depicted above!) While us liberals have science, history, common sense and reality on our side, and yet we can't even seem to convince EACH OTHER that we're right!
Forget this rah-rah crap about loving America. Until we live in a country where 99.999% of the adult population knows that the fucking earth revolves around the sun, accepts the theory of evolution and has the slightest inkling about how our government works and who's actually running the show... Well, I may love America, but I'm really starting to hate Americans.
Or at least I'm both extremely frustrated with and embarrassed by them.
I didn't believe it at the time (now I'm not so sure) but back when I was in High School (maybe College?) I saw one of these kinds of things that said that 50% of HS Seniors ((?) I don't remember, some reasonable level of education) couldn't find the PACIFIC OCEAN on a map. What really scary about that is that since the Pacific Ocean actually COVERS about 40% of the map, we can conclude that only about 10% WEREN'T JUST GUESSING!
Like I said, I didn't believe it at the time. But after seeing our poor grasp of FACTS, and after years of reading and listening to some of the most absurd and ignorant OPINIONS... not to mention seeing those opinions held by a majority of the electorate - there is pretty much no level of stupidity I won't put past us.
And what's really ironic - or not, if you consider how many "Conservatives" routinely vote against their own interests - it that it's generally the RIGHT that says things like "You should have to take an IQ test to vote" and stuff like that. (It's usually said with a Southern-Mountain Accent and the banjo from Deliverance playing in the background.)
But hey... as long as the test has a section on Evolution, Climatology and Civics? For once I'd heartily agree with them.
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BTW - Sorry about all the pissing and moaning today. I've just been all filled up with whiny little bitch lately and had to vent. Hopefully someone out there still finds it somewhat amusing. Thanks for humoring me.
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Conservatives mostly don't convince people they're right about issues--Americans have been and, for the most part, remain a liberal people. They lose their way in moments of hysteria, sometimes quite badly (the years the followed 9/11 being just the biggest most recent example), but eventually, they usually correct themselves.
ReplyDeleteConservatives win because they don't deal with issues. They exploit divisions in society, on the one hand, and make elections about personalities, on the other, turning them into the biggest reality show on earth.
Look at the incredible amount of heat generated over the so-called "Ground Zero Mosque" in the last few weeks. It's an entirely manufactured "issue," intended to exploit racist sentiments the right has patiently sown for years. It's safe for Republicans, because no matter what happens with the actual community center in question, it doesn't affect anyone.
Republican anti-immigrant sentiment is also an appeal to racism, and nothing else. The tip-off is that nothing the right says about immigration accurately describes any problem that may exist or suggests any real means of dealing with it.
At the same time, they work endlessly to demonize anything with any hint of liberalism (including the word "liberal"), and even center-right politicians like the Obama, who bends over backwards to be accomodating toward them on everything, but isn't of their party. He enacts their policies only to stand accused, by them, of being some radical Kenyan socialist trying to use health care reform to kill old people. Throughout the Obama administration, we've seen Republicans, as a bloc, repeatedly turn again proposals they, themselves, have made for years whenever the Obama throws his support behind them. This opposition to everything is intentional--it's aimed at creating a sustained impression in the public consciousness that there's something very fundamentally wrong with Obama and the Demos.
That's how Republicans win elections, in spite of public opposition to pretty much all of their major policies. They smear and stand against, and turn the entire process into a reality-show, where the only things that matters are personalities, or, more precisely, the perception of personalities. Republicans tire effortlessly to direct the anger over the terrorist attacks on the U.S. against Muslims in general, then offer the "Ground Zero Mosque" as an "issue" for no other reason than to try to get liberals to stand up against anti-Muslim bigotry so that they can be associated a minority conservatives have made unpopular, and, by extension, with terrorism. Boehner calls for the firing of the Obama economic team not because it's a good idea (it would be a GREAT idea; none of them should have been hired in the first place), but because it fosters the larger perception that there's something very wrong with Obama and the Democrats, insinuating, in this case, that they're responsible for the sorry state of the economy. And so on.
Great post (both you and classicliberal2's comment).
ReplyDeleteFor some reason I heard the David Bowie song "I'm Afraid of Americans" playing in my head as I read this post!
If the Conservatives win both Houses in the mid-terms this year and the White House in 2010 then this country is DEAD, and I mean that seriously, the USA right now is on life support and if the Conservatives win then pull the plug and watch as our country falls further down the crapper, then by that time (around 2020) the only way to get back after that would be IMHO is with a second American Civil War.
ReplyDeleteIf God forbid that happens I hope I'll be dead and won't have to deal with it.
I picture the GOP making some gains this fall, but if they continue with their path of obstruction, they risk giving the Democrats fuel for 2012 - elections are almost 2 years away and the right still doesn't have a viable candidate for the presidency. In order to win the election, they will need to court center-thinking folks. They won't win the election with only right-wing religious fanatics...
ReplyDelete@ClassicLiberal -
ReplyDeleteSpot on, as usual. Propaganda is about all they do well. What pisses me off is how many people keep falling for it.
@ChristoherBack -
I'm optimistic that the Dem's will hang on to a narrow majority (1 seat in each house maybe?) But I'm concerned that they will take even that as a message that they have to go farther to the RIGHT even though the Right will never support them and they're losing mainly due to a lack of enthusiasm on the part of the Left. (Wonder why that is? *roll eyes*) Hopefully they'll get the right [correct] message and not only take up a Liberal agenda (assumign they hang on) but actually try SELLING IT as well. It's a longshot, but I can dream.
@Kevin,
It will be an interesting ride, that's for sure. It's also still unclear (IMHO) how the Tea party nonsense will play out. Lots of 3-way races. So there could be a few split votes out there, and some Democrats managing to win despite themselves. I just don't understand how ANYONE can vote for them after two years of rooting for economic failure and doing everything in their power to prevent the Democrats form fixing any of it! The amount of stupidity in this country is staggering.
Thanks for all your comments.