I vowed to myself before the election that I wasn’t going to make cracks about the ignorance of the American voter, but this kind of thing makes it hard for me to stick to my original intention.
Amazing. Unless you’re a doctor, you wouldn’t cheerfully volunteer to remove somebody’s appendix. If you know nothing about cars, you wouldn’t attempt to rebuild your engine. Who among us would presume to tell Kobe Bryant how to improve his game? And yet, these boobs – and millions of others just like them – have absolutely no problem in deciding who should preside over the government of their country in a time of economic uncertainty and festering, anti-American resentment abroad. Why, it’s a snap! Just catch a couple of episodes of SNL, spend an hour or so with Jon Stewart, and watch CNN while you’re shelling peas.
While this level of ignorance seems ominous – and it is – there’s a silver lining. As Robert Stacy McCain says, don’t overthink the election results. The clueless folk who were bound and determined to treat this election as if it were a special episode of “American Idol”, might just as easily – even if by accident, but certainly with the right prodding – come to see that the idol has feet of clay, particularly when things start to go wrong. A more informed electorate is surely the goal, but I think some of the professional tea-leaf readers err greatly when they opine that our informationally-challenged citizens have, in fact, consciously shifted toward the left, and that there is greater openness among them to the possibilities of soft socialism. In the first place, it is unlikely that these voters “consciously” arrived at any decision at all, and secondly, the openness was to nothing more intellectually complex than the power of suggestion, and the suggestion – marketed by the candidate and the media like a new cleaning product being hawked by Billy Mays – was alluringly simple: hope (hey, we all can use some of that, can’t we?) and change (never underestimate the transformative power of simple boredom with the status quo).
So, the Republicans should have a Plan A and a Plan B. Plan A: educate the ignorant. Failing that, fall back on Plan B: herd them.
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I would say it's less a case of the public being stupid than a case of the public being lied to by the people they trusted to tell them the truth: the MSM. Not everyone follows political news on the web, or takes a lot of notice at all, but they rely on newsgrabs from the press and broadcasters, and those assholes have been demonstrably in the tank for the Democrats for at least three decades now.
ReplyDeleteBut the point is valid: people need to pay more attention and at least know who the hell is controlling their lives.
What's the problem: those were California voters. We have that type up here in Toronto.
ReplyDeleteCheers
JMH
Rebecca, most people are lazy; they pay attention only to those things that directly impact their lives, job, etc. And even then, most will not ahead more than the next pay period. That's why they rely on soundbites and newsgrabs. It's easier than keeping abreast of the current news, and being situationally aware.
ReplyDeleteMost, not all. Alas, I deal with this sort on a regular basis at work. The vast majority of them are in fact college trained professionals who are supposed to look at the long term.....but seldom do. And resent it when someone else tries to.
I agree with Paco's recommendation. Unfortunately, I think Plan B is the one that will be executed.
Good work, Paco. As for that "anti-americanism", it seems like a conveniently handy stick with which to beat the constituents when voting time comes around, or when some piece of surrender-politics has to be sold. Funny how all those USA haters clamour to move to the USA. I think the media everywhere play fast and loose with that one. All that stuff about loosing the goodwill generated by 9/11 - who helped lose it really? The uncontrollable PR disaster which is the MSM, that's who.
ReplyDeleteDave Barry once made an observation about Republican and Democrats to the effect that, if your car broke down by the side of the road, Republicans driving by might know how to repair the car but probably wouldn't stop, while Democrats would not know anything at all about car repair but would stop to help regardless.
ReplyDeleteAs a result they'd end up setting your car on fire trying to fix it.
I'll repeat Iowahawk's excellent summary:
ReplyDelete"It's obvious that this newfound pride is not confined to Americans alone. All across the world, Mr. Obama's election has helped mend America's tattered image as a racist, violent cowboy, willing to retaliate with bombs at the slightest provocation. The huge outpouring of international support following the election shows that America can still win new friendships while rebuilding its old ones, and provides Mr. Obama with unprecedented diplomatic leverage over our remaining enemies. When Russian tanks start pouring into eastern Europe and Iranian missiles begin raining down on Jerusalem, their leaders will know they will be facing a man who not only conquered America's racial divide but the hearts of the entire Cannes film community. And those Al Qaeda terrorists plotting a dirty nuke or chemical attack on San Francisco face a stark new reality: while they may no longer need to worry about US Marines, they are looking down the barrel of a strongly worded diplomatic condemnation by a Europe fully united in their deep sympathy for surviving Americans."
blogstrop: Iowahawk is de man!
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