Turn And Face The Strain
07/15/08 20:13
Change. Yes. Change. The American public is
inherently uncomfortable with change. The vast
majority of us tend to drift along with our human
herd, heads down, safe and secure and content in the
belief that America is, always was, and always will
be the greatest country on earth. For far too many of
us, this belief is the full extent and depth of our
political "knowledge" and opinion about our country.
It is a fiercely determined shallowness that we
glorify by sneeringly labeling those who would have
us think more deeply as elitist and those who
acknowledge the merest possibility of foreign policy
errors as America-haters.
Our elections have become a celebration of this willful ignorance; we elect leaders based not on on their ability to lead, but instead on their ability to keep us proudly uninformed, yet supremely confident that everything is as it should be. An uninformed electorate gets the government it deserves; dubya is not just a moron, he is a moron's moron, the product of generations of Americans not paying attention.
But. Change. It takes an extreme and prolonged (usually negative) stimulus for our human herd to first take notice and then begin to actively seek change. I sense that we may be on the cusp of such a point in our history. I sure hope it's not just wishful thinking on my part. This election should be nothing if not a referendum on the accomplishments of dubya and his war on terra. We've had going on 8 years now of systematic de-construction of our government and everything our country stands for. No aspect of life is better than it was 8 years ago. The American public has finally recognized that there is something fundamentally wrong with our government and that something needs changing, even if they don't exactly know what that something is.
So. Change. H.L. Mencken declared that nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people, but for some reason I am feeling confident that our human herd is about to start nudging this country in a new direction. We remain a woefully uninformed electorate, but more people are paying attention every day. This election offers two distinct options: more of the same or a clear and definite change. I think we the people can handle that choice.
Our elections have become a celebration of this willful ignorance; we elect leaders based not on on their ability to lead, but instead on their ability to keep us proudly uninformed, yet supremely confident that everything is as it should be. An uninformed electorate gets the government it deserves; dubya is not just a moron, he is a moron's moron, the product of generations of Americans not paying attention.
But. Change. It takes an extreme and prolonged (usually negative) stimulus for our human herd to first take notice and then begin to actively seek change. I sense that we may be on the cusp of such a point in our history. I sure hope it's not just wishful thinking on my part. This election should be nothing if not a referendum on the accomplishments of dubya and his war on terra. We've had going on 8 years now of systematic de-construction of our government and everything our country stands for. No aspect of life is better than it was 8 years ago. The American public has finally recognized that there is something fundamentally wrong with our government and that something needs changing, even if they don't exactly know what that something is.
So. Change. H.L. Mencken declared that nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people, but for some reason I am feeling confident that our human herd is about to start nudging this country in a new direction. We remain a woefully uninformed electorate, but more people are paying attention every day. This election offers two distinct options: more of the same or a clear and definite change. I think we the people can handle that choice.
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