From The Depths, Vol. 7, #1: Palindrones at the Beck and Call of their Masters

[AFK]

"Brother, many a crooked day we spent
Telling tales and making myths
Sharpening our tongues for the final fight
Yet doing little but growing old" - A. A. Nemtheanga

"Would anyone tell me if I was getting stupider?" - Faith No More

Bill Maher, some days ago, caused a stir by declaring that Americans, for the most part, are idiots.  Now, of course, the typical flag-waving, umbrage-laden blow back was, "How can you say such a thing about Americans?"  Challenging the citizenry of one's nation has long been an action of audacity in the United States of America.  "We The People" has been turned into that old retail credo, "The customer is always right."  It is never acceptable to challenge the citizenry and amounts to blasphemy.

Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer just stepped in it as well, when they commented that the reactionaries in these Town Hall meetings were engaging in "unAmerican" behavior.  Now, it must first be asked, "What the hell does it mean to be American anyway?"  First, I suppose the cut-and-dry technical answer is being a U.S. Citizen.  Unless, of course, your name is Barack Hussein Obama, then even proof of citizenship doesn't count.  Otherwise, 'being American" seems like an open ended question, or a Rorsach test.  It seems to be essentially meaningless, but that doesn't stop people from gasping in abject disgrace when anyone suggests anyone is "unAmerican".  In fact that was the biggest problem with what Pelosi said.  She only serves to perpetuate the faux-Patriotic nonsense by shamelessly parroting its most popular catchphrases and buzzwords.  Either call them out for being the dumb-ass obstructionists they are or shut the fuck up!

But let's face it folks, how else can you describe a citizenry that is all too willing to accept the words of Special Interest talking points as gospel?  How else can you label a populace, that sees astroturf every where you look yet still insists on labelling 100% certified organic grassroots?  What other words can you describe people who can't see the platinum-coated titanium puppet strings that are grafted to their arms?  They are repeating bull-shit phantoms like Palin's "death panels" like they are gospel.  It further demonstrates the ignorance of these Americans, especially when you consider that the actual part of the proposal, reimbursement for living will consultations, was co-sponsored by REPUBLICANS!  It was an idea brought up by Susan Collins and in a separate proposal, by Rep. Isaacson, both Republicans.  So much for the evil Democrat conspiracy to kill old-people.  But do any of these sheep actually bother to Google this stuff and look for the actual truth behind it?  No. 

Maher was right, and America IS full of idiots.  We are surrounded by them on a daily basis.  We see them everywhere on the goddamned TeeVee.  None of them are looking for the truth.  They just want the "facts" handed to them in convenient plastic wrappers whereupon they can pop them into their skull and swallow them whole.  Critical thinking and research are lost arts.  The 21st Century has become the Century of the Reactionary.  Will the next 90 years be any different?   

[LMNO]

[Jenne]

Dammit, I haven't watched that epi yet.  Was too busy over the weekend to catch the latest Maher.

He also caused a minor stir by asking one of the talking bobbleheads of either Fux News or (P)MSNBC if he didn't think that all the racists seem to be Republican these days.  He clarified by saying he didn't think all Republicans were racists, just that if one was racist in America, they happened to be Republican as well.

ETA:  This was a couple of weeks ago.

[AFK]

Well, and that's the other thing that is going on.  In my mind, there is so much proxy-racism going on in the Tea Parties, Birtherism, and elements of these town hall protests, and for me it is clear as day.  The Right is unwilling to admit it, and the Left are unwilling to address it.  We saw how worked up those Palin and McCain crowds were near the end of the 2008 campaign.  We saw how unwilling they were to acknowledge Obama and their fervent "over my dead body" feelings of having him as a President.  And so everyone thought that was just going to go away on January 20th? 

But it will never be addressed in any kind of meaningfull way. 

[Jenne]

BTW, my answer to this sort of thing is always:  education.

We don't teach civics any more.  Critical thinking? ...Fogedaboudit. 

We instead have become the Land of the Lowest Common Denominator.  Catering to the simple and the stupid so we don't hurt their feelings when they fail or when they get it wrong.  "Johnny won't want to continue to learn if he gets too many C's."  Why does Johnny deserve a B- when he failed to put 2 and 2 together?

So yes, we have a large amount of simple-minded idjits begetting the same.  They go with what feels good and sounds good rather than what hurts your nads and rings with the horribleness of tr00f.  I hate coming across them too because their argument style is the equivalent of dick-measuring rather than an actual quest for anything resembling a so-called fact.

[Jenne]

Well, and that's the other thing that is going on.  In my mind, there is so much proxy-racism going on in the Tea Parties, Birtherism, and elements of these town hall protests, and for me it is clear as day.  The Right is unwilling to admit it, and the Left are unwilling to address it.  We saw how worked up those Palin and McCain crowds were near the end of the 2008 campaign.  We saw how unwilling they were to acknowledge Obama and their fervent "over my dead body" feelings of having him as a President.  And so everyone thought that was just going to go away on January 20th? 

But it will never be addressed in any kind of meaningfull way. 

Well, it does--by the jesters of the court.  Colbert, Maher and Stewart have never let that bone go, ever.  And I hope they keep at it.

[Captain Utopia]

Perspective from a Brit, living in Canada - the whole concept of "The American Way of Life" seems to be an idea which leads people down the garden path of thought towards thinking that there should be some point to it all. It's a religion which is all the more powerful because it has no leaders, no churches, no organisation. It's a religion which, like Christianity, doesn't come out and blatantly say that if you were born the wrong colour, or outside certain circles, then you'll have an almost impossible task of climbing the ladder. It's a religion which says that all can play, just for the price of a lottery ticket.

The exceptions are notable because they are the exceptions.

Just like I no longer believe Fundamentalists to be idiots, I no longer believe many Americans to be idiots. The number of tendrils any religion has running through your mind, is proportional to both the difficulty in identifying it within yourself and the appearance of idiocy to someone without those influences.

I'm not suggesting it's the only cause, or the root cause. But I think if you could somehow plant the idea in peoples minds that "The American Way of Life" is an entirely detrimental concept, then you'd go some distance towards tackling much of the problems which result from it.

[Thurnez Isa]

Rev WHN 

[Thurnez Isa]

Just like I no longer believe Fundamentalists to be idiots, I no longer believe many Americans to be idiots.

Stay around longer
that'll change

[Jenne]

...and yet the "American Way of Life" is probably the only thing that kept my mother-in-law from going insane while her husband was beat in the head repeatedly with riflebutts of the Talibs who attacked their home every few months...

Knowing one day her son would bring her back here with her children and husband kept her from suicide, I firmly believe.

So...there are two ends of everything really.  The internal bullshit is found within every culture...the American one just happens to revolve around a certain level of stupid that should be won over easily with a bit more knowledge and skill than is presently being taught in school.

[Requia ☣]

BTW, my answer to this sort of thing is always:  education.

We don't teach civics any more.  Critical thinking? ...Fogedaboudit. 

We instead have become the Land of the Lowest Common Denominator.  Catering to the simple and the stupid so we don't hurt their feelings when they fail or when they get it wrong.  "Johnny won't want to continue to learn if he gets too many C's."  Why does Johnny deserve a B- when he failed to put 2 and 2 together?

So yes, we have a large amount of simple-minded idjits begetting the same.  They go with what feels good and sounds good rather than what hurts your nads and rings with the horribleness of tr00f.  I hate coming across them too because their argument style is the equivalent of dick-measuring rather than an actual quest for anything resembling a so-called fact.

Kinda makes me wonder if No Child Left Behind isn't working as intended.

[Jenne]

Kinda makes me wonder if No Child Left Behind isn't working as intended.

Yeah...NCLB has some major things wrong with it.  Mostly being and unfunded Federal mandate that fucks up the internal assessment structures that states might already have.

[Requia ☣]

The basic assessment method is broken too, and has worsened the problems with breadth and depth of teaching, with schools only teaching whats on the test in order to get a high graduation rate.

[Jenne]

True, but there were states that were trying (and some were starting to succeed) to turn that tide, and NCLB worked against that.  So the two programs, state and NCLB, would compete against each other with separate standards.

[Rumckle]

The basic assessment method is broken too, and has worsened the problems with breadth and depth of teaching, with schools only teaching whats on the test in order to get a high graduation rate.

I think that is a problem with many systems, and sometimes just falls to personal "teaching style".

A main problem (from what I can gather) about the no child left behind policy, is that if you start handing out good grades to try and keep the kids interested in learning, is that it gives them no incentive to try at all. Why the hell would you do any work when you can just goof of and still get a decent mark?