Blasphemy
Whenever I hear a politician praising the wisdom of the American voter, without the slightest hint of a wink or a grin, I can't help but silently applaud the gall — and that's especially true since the election and re-election of our petulant boy president in 2000 and 2004.
If politicians truly respected the acumen of voters, they wouldn't rely so heavily on sound bytes and swiftboating and bumper-sticker slogans. In fact, politicians have very little respect for voters, but they sure as hell aren't going to admit it.
As Jim Croce might have put it:
You don't tug on Superman's cape
You don't spit into the wind
You don't pull the mask off the old Lone Ranger
And you don't mess around with America's inflated image of itself...
But now a blasphemous new book does exactly that: Just How Stupid Are We? Facing the Truth About the American Voter. Consider:
Only two in 10 know we have 100 US senators. Only four in 10 know we have three branches of government and can name them. Only a third know that Congress has the power to declare war.
Why does this matter? Here's why:
The harsh truth is that ignorant voters are sitting ducks for wily politicians. This is why millions were so easily misled when the Bush administration dropped hints that Saddam Hussein played a role in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. One study by the University of Maryland found that nearly 60 percent of Americans were convinced that Hussein was helping Al Qaeda when we undertook our invasion. A majority based their support for the war on this flagrant misunderstanding.
And that's why I blame George Bush and Dick Cheney and the pandering cowards in Congress much less for this war than I do the so-called wise American voter.
Comments
I just read a Canadian columnist with the wonderful quote - most poliicians have the consistency of a windsock.
Sadly most would be voters have the attention span of a fruit fly.
A party leader here I once worked for used to list the ills of the government, then ask whose fault it was.
He's let them go through the blame game, then tell them: "No! It is your fault, you let it happen!"
Posted by: Dennis Cartledge | June 15, 2008 05:14 PM
Abi,
Although I don't disagree with the point you're trying to make, you're hardly one to comment on the wisdom of the American voter. Look back at your column of November 5, 2007 (http://www.updateamerica.com/lists/604/2007/11/greetings.html) where you stated: "This postcard is the friendly face of 'universal' health care in Massachusetts. If any of the top-tier Democratic candidates for president have their way, it will be what 'universal' health care looks like all across America."
Of course, just like every other knee-jerk contrarian, you couldn't be bothered to remember that it was rammed through the Massachusetts Legislature by a Mormon Republican Governor of Massachusetts who went on to be a Mormon Republican Candidate for President.
Not only are you absolutely right that the American voter is not to be trusted; you have provided the perfect example to justify that claim.
Posted by: Long Memory | June 16, 2008 02:09 AM
Cart, that's the upside AND downside of democracy. As Molly Ivins said, we are the deciders. We can't blame "them" when things go wrong. "Them" is us. ;-)
Long Memory - welcome to 604. Your memory might not be as long as you think. You might want to refresh it here. Or if you prefer your info fed to you in small, easily-digestible soundbites, consider this:
"What Hillary proposed is in many ways the Massachusetts plan gone national, and I think that's great," said MIT economics professor Jonathan Gruber, an early adviser to Romney on the healthcare reform law who has consulted with all the major Democratic presidential candidates..."And rather than claiming credit for it, Romney's running away from it."
As for Romney's religion, I'll respond to that part as soon as I figure out what it has to do with any of this.
Posted by: abi | June 16, 2008 06:52 AM
A recent Pew poll reported that 30 percent of adults have “used the Internet to read or watch unfiltered campaign material,” as opposed to relying on sound bites. That's encouraging, and probably sends shivers down the spines of politicians (and trolls) everywhere.
Posted by: Kathy | June 16, 2008 02:45 PM
That is encouraging, Kathy. Big media outlets keep being gobbled up, and thus the news gets homogenized, but that won't happen to the Internet. So keep on blogging. ;-)
Posted by: abi | June 16, 2008 05:01 PM