Congratulations America - We've Completely Jumped the Shark as a Functional Society!

So I’ve spent the past week or so listening to “the other side.” You know, the whole “know your enemy thing.” I watched part of the GOP convention, saw interviews with many of the delegates, read boatloads of stuff, and watched a variety of news shows with Republican “talking heads” – writers, politicians, pundits, bureaucrats, etc. Although I am, admittedly, biased, I was stunned at the level of their ignorance and shamelessness. As a long-time student of History, I honestly and truly - and unfortunately - believe that this country has truly “jumped the shark” in terms of our ability to functionally govern ourselves. When fully half the country believes and says such outrageously ridiculous things, there is truly no hope. Witness: Dinesh D’Souza, appearing on Bill Maher’s show, insists that he “knows” Obama. He knows him well enough, in fact, to make a documentary entitled 2016: Obama’s America that, unsurprisingly, trots out that stupid canard about Obama being a Socialist, that claims you can hear all the “rage” in Obama by reading his books, and that the President is heavily influenced by the father he never spent time with, and his supposedly horrible “anti-colonialist” views. As if there is something wrong with being anti-colonialist—not to mention the fact, that in this day & age, it doesn’t mean squat if you’re anti-colonialist as no one has colonies anymore! When D’Souza was pressed on how it is that he “knows” what is in Obama’s heart, he freely admits that he has never even met the man, never spoken with him, etc. But the yokels still flock to his movie, praising him as a “conservative Michael Moore,” despite the fact that Moore either knew much more about his subjects or at least made the effort – sometimes “guerilla style” – to talk to them, learn why they do and say the things they do, etc. To watch this simpering little twit make his inane, gross assumptions was appalling not only because of his ludicrous claims, but in the surety with which he presented them and the willingness of all the slack-jawed, gap-toothed, in-bred racist yokels to swallow the claptrap. Later, on the same show, Maher had a former Bush administration official – their token black guy – who continued to argue vociferously against climate change. Again, despite all the evidence, despite the fairly general scientific consensus, etc. When it became clear (again) how stupid he sounded, he said that we should just “agree to disagree.” No. We can’t. The science is there. It’s observable to ANYONE with half a brain, so no, we can’t “agree to disagree” when one side is spouting made up, head in the sand, denialist shit and the other side has facts and science on its side. On several shows, I saw interviews with GOP convention delegates. While of course all of them were white, there was still a fair amount of “diversity” in terms of age, sex (both of them!), etc. And yet the ignorance, hate, and hypocrisy still shone through. Ridiculous signs like “Jesus Hates Obama” (although I am a committed atheist, this type of shit disgusts me beyond measure – I honestly don’t see how ANYONE can be SO fucking ignorant as to honestly think Jesus would “hate” Obama ….or fags…or, well, anyone). Just as astonishing was the breadth of their hypocrisy. When many delegates were asked how to reconcile Romney’s position on abortion, which is still to the left of the GOP platform, delegate after delegate, with no clue whatsoever regarding their hypocrisy, asserted that, even though they may not agree with Mitt’s “radical” stance to “allow” a rape victim to decide what to do with her own body, they uniformly stated that it was his right to have a differing view. More than one actually said stuff along the lines of “well, of course, everyone has the right to make their own decision about something like this….something so personal” I mean, seriously, how can we ever hope to move forward in this country with ignorance and hypocrisy like this running rampant? Speaking of the double-whammy of ignorance and hypocrisy, were these same delegates twisted labeling of the “true Christian” in this race. When confronted with the endless disagreements these people had with Romney, they were still going to vote for him because he’s a “good, Christian man.” Of course we don’t need to be reminded of these yahoos ridiculous, slack-jawed assertions that Obama is a Muslim, but what’s even more appalling is that, even a cursory study of Mormonism would show these “Christians” that one of the most “interesting” tent pole aspects of Mormonism is the acceptance/belief that the Virgin Mary was not, in fact, a virgin. You can dismiss their silly magic underwear, the polygamy, the only recent admission that blacks are not sub-human, the “fact” that God lives on the planet Kobol, etc. But the idea that Jesus Christ was not the product of an immaculate conception is a more than significant tear in the very fabric of what makes Christianity “unique.” Oh well, no matter, at least he’s not a black guy. The fact that another hurricane was bearing down on the country for the second GOP convention in a row also brought the hypocrisy out of the GOP. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal has been one of the most consistent GOP mouthpieces railing against “intrusive government” and the idea that Democrats expect the government to do everything, and it’s destroying the country, blah blah blah. And yet, rather than pull themselves up by their own bootstraps, rather than let the “free market” help address the devastation and clean up, Jindal railed against Obama for not providing more government largesse to Louisiana. The depth and breadth of their hypocrisy and cynicism is truly breathtaking. “The Daily Show” did this interesting thing where they interviewed delegates about the GOP assertion that we need a “businessman” to run the country—that the U.S. as a whole needs to be run like a business. The reporters played along, agreed with the assertion, and then asked what state the delegate was from. Of course most of the ones squealing the loudest for the “business” argument were the ones from the reddest of the red states. And, of course, most of the red states are, in fact, “in the red” in terms of how much money they suck from the government teat vs. how much they contribute. I swear to god, when confronted with this information, and the reporters’ suggestion that these “failing states” need to be cut loose or shipped off to India, they had no response. Most of them were, in fact, surprised to hear that their state was a welfare state. But did it matter? Pfft, are you kidding me? The GOP is so very aware now of how appalled most any thinking person is about their hypocrisy, their disgusting selfishness, hatred, and greed, their demonization of women, gays, etc., that their only chance now is to disenfranchise as many people as possible—thus the across the board effort, particularly in swing states, to make sure poor people, minorities, and the elderly can’t vote. Here in Oklahoma – the reddest of reds – a senior citizen had problems voting last week. Keep in mind this was just for a bond measure. The only thing on the ballot. When he couldn’t locate his driver’s license, the guy presented his Air Force I.D. The poll worker said, “Oh. Well. We really need a government I.D.” The guy pointed out that his was issued by the U.S. Dept. of Defense. So the poll worker says, “Oh. Well. We need an I.D. that has an expiration date.” The guy patiently pointed out the expiration date on his DoD I.D. Even then, they said, “Oh. Well. We really need to see a driver’s license.” Seriously. But all this shit: the hypocrisy, the disenfranchisement, the ignorance, the hate and absurd hyperbole (“elect Obama and we’ll enter a thousand years of darkness!”), none of these are why we have finally, truly jumped the shark in this country. Most all of these things have been a feature of politics from day one – and not just in the U.S. (although, to be fair, we have “elevated” most of these “arts” to an absurd level – U.S.A.! U.S.A.!). The pivot that, I think, has finally pushed us over the edge is the blatant and astonishingly cynical attack on “fact checkers.” The Romney campaign has flat-out said they won’t be beholden to the truth in this campaign. Paul Ryan told numerous, blatant lies in his convention speech, and yet still he was lauded. Even FOX – FOX – called him out and said he’d set a record for blatant falsehoods in a speech. And still it doesn’t matter; still, they repeat most of the ridiculous assertions that have been proven wrong – stuff that any fucking 10 year old with an internet connection could disprove. And so what? They’re not being held accountable. Although almost 30 years late, we are truly approaching Orwell’s “1984.” The Bush administration crony on Maher’s show actually said, “Well, maybe the fact checkers need to be checked.” And that’s the example that sums everything up. Truth no longer matters. Hypocrisy and hate are applauded and rewarded. Selfishness and greed are considered the benchmarks of a successful society. And anyone who dares to claim otherwise will be labeled, derided, and if none of that works, then a bunch of shit will just be made up about them to keep them from blocking our forward march into utter chaos. Hide and watch. Seriously, you better hide because I guarantee you this kind of shit does not go unpunished—be that punishment from God, from Karma, whatever. We will pay. Just like we did when we allowed Bush to be installed as President over the popular vote of the people. Just like the Romans paid when their society became so corrupt, just like the Soviets paid, etc. etc. etc. From a historical standpoint, it’s kind of exciting; but I weep for my son and nephews & nieces who will grow end up living in a completely dystopian society. :(