Fringe Players
What's the biggest problem facing our country right now? Health care? Terrorism? The economy? Oil spills? The return of Brett Favre?
The answer is none of the above. What is most damaging our nation these days is something that's been a part of our culture for decades, if not centuries, but has been severely ramped up in recent months as almost all of our mass media is infatuated with insane attention whores playing ludicrous multi-act arcs straight out of Vince McMahon's playbook of heels versus faces.
I'm talking, of course, about the dumbing down of political discourse in our nation, and the rise in importance of fringe actors on both sides of the spectrum who fall further and further away from representing their constituents.
If we're to believe what we hear, read, and see, our nation is greatly divided between "fascist socialists" who want to dissolve democracy and mentally-challenged racists who don't believe in any public spending (unless they can somehow benefit from it, of course). Supposedly, every American fits into one of those categories, and anybody who doesn't believe as your group preaches should be immediately shunned, imprisoned, or deported.
This is complete bullshit. Not only is neither party the sole owner of the path to future prosperity, there really is very little difference between the two parties. They're both beholden to the big corporations that fund their campaigns, and both have done little to nothing to help the very people they serve.
Yet the far fringes of both of these parties feel empowered, and more and more candidates are doing anything they can to align themselves with these nut jobs. The latest is House of Representatives candidate Kristi Noem, and I almost spit out my dinner when I first saw this campagn ad:
Did you catch the key words there? "Washington is attacking our freedoms." "South Dakota's voice is not being heard in the House." Not to mention attempting to warm our hearts with her tale of returning to the state to run her parent's (partially taxpayer-funded) farm.
This is the silly kind of rhetoric we've heard for ever and ever, and we're hearing more and more all the time. It would be easy to tear apart each of these statements, particularly since it was her party in the previous administration that actually did dismantle a good portion of the Bill of Rights with the Patriot Act, but it all boils down to the fact that she's a part of that side's collection of morons who feel that it should be mandated that every single citizen believes what she believes, and dissent is not allowed. Kind of goes against her babbling about "freedom".
We hear all the time that various states are blue or red, but those classifications are meaningless as all political viewpoints are present in any state. Sure, the Republicans outnumber the Democrats in South Dakota, but not by the numbers we're led to believe. In fact, more and more people don't belong to any party. Why would they? Who really does speak for the complex beliefs of the vast majority of individuals who just want to live a happy, peaceful life?
Every year we hear the moaning and groaning about dropping voter percentages in both local and national races, but I guarantee the vast majority of those folks stopped voting simply because there aren't any candidates that speak to them. Kristi Noem's commercial is a perfect example of speaking to the fringes and forgetting the common person.
For those sitting back and venting anger at my so-called "liberal" babbling, I can guarantee that I'll have a similar complaint once her "socialist" opponent commences her media blitzkrieg later this summer. And I'll do the same for the vast majority of politicians who run for office this year...particularly if their campaign plan is to appease the lunatic fringe.
The answer is none of the above. What is most damaging our nation these days is something that's been a part of our culture for decades, if not centuries, but has been severely ramped up in recent months as almost all of our mass media is infatuated with insane attention whores playing ludicrous multi-act arcs straight out of Vince McMahon's playbook of heels versus faces.
I'm talking, of course, about the dumbing down of political discourse in our nation, and the rise in importance of fringe actors on both sides of the spectrum who fall further and further away from representing their constituents.
If we're to believe what we hear, read, and see, our nation is greatly divided between "fascist socialists" who want to dissolve democracy and mentally-challenged racists who don't believe in any public spending (unless they can somehow benefit from it, of course). Supposedly, every American fits into one of those categories, and anybody who doesn't believe as your group preaches should be immediately shunned, imprisoned, or deported.
This is complete bullshit. Not only is neither party the sole owner of the path to future prosperity, there really is very little difference between the two parties. They're both beholden to the big corporations that fund their campaigns, and both have done little to nothing to help the very people they serve.
Yet the far fringes of both of these parties feel empowered, and more and more candidates are doing anything they can to align themselves with these nut jobs. The latest is House of Representatives candidate Kristi Noem, and I almost spit out my dinner when I first saw this campagn ad:
Did you catch the key words there? "Washington is attacking our freedoms." "South Dakota's voice is not being heard in the House." Not to mention attempting to warm our hearts with her tale of returning to the state to run her parent's (partially taxpayer-funded) farm.
This is the silly kind of rhetoric we've heard for ever and ever, and we're hearing more and more all the time. It would be easy to tear apart each of these statements, particularly since it was her party in the previous administration that actually did dismantle a good portion of the Bill of Rights with the Patriot Act, but it all boils down to the fact that she's a part of that side's collection of morons who feel that it should be mandated that every single citizen believes what she believes, and dissent is not allowed. Kind of goes against her babbling about "freedom".
We hear all the time that various states are blue or red, but those classifications are meaningless as all political viewpoints are present in any state. Sure, the Republicans outnumber the Democrats in South Dakota, but not by the numbers we're led to believe. In fact, more and more people don't belong to any party. Why would they? Who really does speak for the complex beliefs of the vast majority of individuals who just want to live a happy, peaceful life?
Every year we hear the moaning and groaning about dropping voter percentages in both local and national races, but I guarantee the vast majority of those folks stopped voting simply because there aren't any candidates that speak to them. Kristi Noem's commercial is a perfect example of speaking to the fringes and forgetting the common person.
For those sitting back and venting anger at my so-called "liberal" babbling, I can guarantee that I'll have a similar complaint once her "socialist" opponent commences her media blitzkrieg later this summer. And I'll do the same for the vast majority of politicians who run for office this year...particularly if their campaign plan is to appease the lunatic fringe.
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Kurt