All propaganda must be so popular and on such an intellectual level, that even the most stupid of those toward whom it is directed will understand it… Through clever and constant application of propaganda, people can be made to see paradise as hell, and also the other way around, to consider the most wretched sort of life as paradise.
- Adolf Hitler
I can understand and respect that many do not think as I do. I’m not threatened by differences of opinion, because now and again I manage to learn something from folks who don’t share my views on a particular topic. From where I sit, this is why informed, rational debate and discussion is a good thing. I think we can all afford to listen to what others think. Where I draw the line, though, is with with the screaming, barely coherent, foaming-at-the-mouth ranting that seem to be part and parcel of the Tea Party experience. Behind the ignorance, the vitriol, and the racism lies…well, even more ignorance, vitriol, and racism. All one really needs to do is to listen to people and look at the signs to understand that the Tea Party is not about our future. It’s not about charting a path to make our Republic a better, safer, and more perfect Union. No, it’s about the basest sort of ignorant, hateful mob mentality imaginable. And our media treats these loons as if they’re a legitimate political movement with something to offer the American Sheeple.
The collective ire teabaggers harbor over health care reform seems to have less to do with parroting Right-wing talking points than it does with parroting Right-wing screaming points. Check out the signs, listen to the protesters, and it’s not difficult to figure out what these folks are about. Ill-informed, anti-democratic, and as racist as the day is long, they spew their incoherent bile for all to see and hear, secure in their own rectitude and blissfully unaware of the reality that the only thing they’re accomplishing is a successful foray into self-parody. Steeped in fear and propaganda, fearful of those who look, believe, and act differently, and convinced that the are the only Real Americans, teabaggers scream about freedom while betraying an agenda that would guarantee their version of freedom only for themselves. They scream about the Constitution, but listen to them for anything length of time and a rational observer finds oneself wondering if any of them have actually ever READ the Constitution.
The reality that the majority of Tea Party rallies are populated by and overwhelming majority of lower- and middle-class Whites can (and does) serve as definitive proof that their America is not a melting pot. The America of most teabaggers is, and should be, by their way of thinking, overwhelmingly (if not completely) White. Their America is a Christian nation, ruled by zealots willing to oppress, marginalize, and in some cases eliminate those who have not accepted Jesus Christ as their personal savior. Their Christianity is not about the teachings of Jesus Christ; it’s about social and political control and enshrining their fears and prejudice as the law of the land. Separation of Church and State is for losers and Liberals.
I understand that the Tea Party is, in terms of numbers, still a minority movement- albeit a disturbingly loud and angry one. The media, always attracted to loud and flashy like flies to cow dung, have accorded the Tea Party movement a significance that far outstrips their actual membership, if not their volume and vitriol. Outrageous still gets ratings, which accounts for loons like Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck, who have little of value to add to the public discourse, but are stars due to their calculated outrageousness. Fear-mongering and propaganda is a damn poor way to move the public debate forward, but it works if properly orchestrated. Far too many of the American Sheeple are far too ready to be propagandized by anyone willing to pump their brains full of anything that resonates with their fear and ignorance. And reacting is SO much easier than thinking critically, eh?
How are we supposed to figure out how to move our country forward when one segment of the population is foaming at the mouth over lies about health care reform, another is screaming about Socialism, and yet another is venting their prodigious racism at public rallies? Sometimes I’m truly astonished at how phenomenally stupid we as a People can be. Somewhere along the way we lost our collective ability to think. The Big Lie became more than a propaganda tool; it became moral currency, and those will to spend it rocketed to the top rung of pundits and opinion makers. The “American Sheeple” became more than just a pejorative; it became a reality. Volume, ignorance, racism, and propaganda rule…and we’re all poorer for that.
WE DESERVE BETTER.
