An Uninformed Public
An uninformed public is its own worst enemy. The American public is grossly uninformed and our leaders know it. That’s what allowed eight years of Bush administration mismanagement. It also enabled the current financial crisis, the demonization of health care reform, the prevention of effective environmental legislation, and even the distortion of copyright law.
Remember back when the majority dismissed as conspiracy theorists and nutjobs those who screamed from the rooftops about how it was corporations running our country? You’d have to be blind and deaf, or just plain dumb, not to see now how the real nutjobs were those who dismissed them. It’s right there in front of us every day now, building in a steady crescendo since the Enron scandal. The mainstream media, itself an organ oozing corporate interests, repeatedly reminds us of the greedy financiers and the corporate-friendly politicians who looked the other way while they fleeced the country and brought about the current economic crisis. We also have front row seats to the ongoing battle between the private health insurance lobby and the handful of lawmakers who really do want to give all Americans health care.
With all of this information available at our fingertips, it is inconceivable that the American public would allow the government to get away with working against the interests of the people. Yet, that’s exactly what is happening. The same people who got us into the financial crisis are still running the show, minus the sacrificial lamb named Bernie Madoff, and it’s back to business as usual. The health insurance companies have built up an army of former government insiders to do everything in their power to protect corporate profits. Does it make any sense for people to sit idly by, while so many Americans have no health insurance and die because they can’t afford health care? Even those who do have insurance are constantly challenged for the procedures they need and often find premiums increased after a medical emergency.
If you think we have an informed public, look no further than Republican talking points. From the ignorant “Drill, Baby Drill!” mantra during the last presidential campaign, to the ridiculous reptition of “socialist” to describe Obama and his policies. People eat this nonsense up. The Republicans want to keep it that way.
It’s just not possible that all of the prominent Republicans are as mentally deficient as they appear to be. I’m quite positive Lindsey Graham isn’t as dumb as he looks. John Boehner probably isn’t really an ignorant airbag. Of course, Sara Palin and Michele Bachmann almost certainly are batshit crazy, so I don’t consider them part of the act. But working together, the actors and the real idiots largely manage to adhere to a single message. They use the same tactics again and again. Misdirection, misinformation, controlling the controversy. Repeat a lie or half-truth often enough and an uninformed public will believe it. Karl Rove and Dick Cheney proved how effective fear tactics can be.
That doesn’t mean the Democrats are angels. Far from it. Bill Maher recently put into words what many liberals were afraid to admit: that we don’t actually have a progressive party in this country. He’s right, you know. The Democrats play by different rules, to a different audience, but it’s the same game. While the Republicans present a single unified message with a unified front, the Democrats divvy it up. A number of them talk the talk, then blame their more moderate brethren for preventing them from walking the walk. The expectation is that liberals are more informed, and better educated, than conservatives. You can’t scream “Socialist! Socialist! Socialist!” at them every time they turn around and expect them to believe it. No, you’ve actually got to explain policies and give them statistics. Fear and misdirection just won’t work. Of course, if the policies actually were implemented, then the current system would crumble. We’d actually have a government working in the interest of the people. So, the so-called moderate Democrats, those who are often scathingly accused of being just right of center, play the scapegoats and allow the status quo to continue. Democratic voters remain loyal to the party, praising their liberal heroes and cursing the moderates who repeatedly spoil the fun.
Yes, I’m a disillusioned Democrat. Now that the Dems control 60 seats, I don’t expect anything to change. It is blatantly obvious that our government by the people, of the people, and for the people really is dead. And has been for quite some time. I didn’t take an interest in politics until Bush-Gore came along. Then, I realized that I am liberal through and through. And I saw the Democrats as the best hope for our future. With hindsight, I see how naive I was. I even drank the Obama Kool Aid. We all see how that’s turning out, no matter how many Obama supporters refuse to acknowledge it.
So here we are. What are we going to do about it? Nothing, apparently. We can’t even be bothered to prosecute the previous administration for torturing prisoners to death. Hell, we didn’t do a damn thing as a citizenry when the previous administration trampled all over our rights. Illegal spying, anyone? We’re letting the current administration continue some of the same policies. The architects of our financial crisis have gone unpunished. The health insurance industry is poised to win a major victory in the health care reform debate. You can bet that if there is reform, it will be watered down to the point where it will either be just as bad or some degree worse. Not only are we an uninformed public, we are an uninspired public. Though I suppose one leads to the other.
True, there have been protests regarding one issue or another over the past few years. But they were small scale. Gnats. Bloggers more influential than I have railed in post after post against some policies and in support of others. But what change have they affected? If we, as a people, really cared, we would be out in the streets en masse. We would demand that the government stop with the nonsensical games and give all Americans the right to health care, regardless of financial status. We would command our elected officials to hold accountable those in and out of government who have commited crimes, be it for the financial crisis, the misguided wars we were lied into, or the total abandoment of everything we stand for in the torture of prisoners. This is not about revenge. It’s about accountability.
The United States has lost its identity. It’s been coming for a while, always there behind the scenes throughout the twentieth century. The Bush administration managed to create a perfect storm, allowing it all to bubble up to the surface and explode. We were founded as a republic and, over the years, have adopted more democratic ideals. We were never a true democracy, nor should we ever be. Now, we aren’t even an effective republic. Coporatocracy, or even aristocracy, would be much better words to describe the state in which we exist now. Sure, you can still go from rags to riches in America. If you’re extremely lucky. The American Dream was hijacked long ago. And as the financial institutions go back to fleecing America, and the government continues to pass one law after another that ultimately favors corporations and the wealthy, despite what the polls say, ask yourself if this is ever going to change.
Go ahead. Ask. Then go back to sitting there and doing nothing about it.