Obama Derangement Syndrome—pathological hatred of the president posing as patriotism—has infected the Republican Party…. These numbers all come from a brand-new Harris poll…. The poll, which surveyed 2,230 people right at the height of the health-care reform debate, also clearly shows that education is a barrier to extremism. Respondents without a college education are vastly more likely to believe such claims, while Americans with college degrees or better are less easily duped. It’s a reminder of what the 19th-century educator Horace Mann once too-loftily said: “Ignorance breeds monsters to fill up the vacancies of the soul that are unoccupied by the verities of knowledge.”
I really try to be optimistic about the future of this country I love. Having lived overseas on two separate occasions, I have a perspective on, and a resulting love for, my country that not many Americans possess. The latest Harris Poll, however, has me wondering if perhaps my optimism hasn’t been misplaced. Nothing personal, but if you’re a Republican, odds are that you’re pretty )&^%$#@ stupid. I realize that sounds horribly dismissive and arrogant, but let’s be real here. The poll numbers don’t exactly speak to Republicans being anything close to intellectually agile, do they?
How bad is it? Well, how about I let the poll numbers speak for themselves:
67 percent of Republicans (and 40 percent of Americans overall) believe that Obama is a socialist
57 percent of Republicans (32 percent overall) believe that Obama is a Muslim
45 percent of Republicans (25 percent overall) agree with the Birthers in their belief that Obama was “not born in the United States and so is not eligible to be president”
38 percent of Republicans (20 percent overall) say that Obama is “doing many of the things that Hitler did”
Scariest of all, 24 percent of Republicans (14 percent overall) say that Obama “may be the Antichrist.”
Look at those numbers. Think about them. Those are our countrymen. Those are the people we work with, meet at the grocery store and the post office, and see in the mall. Stupid people are everywhere. Again, I realize how arrogant that sounds, but come on; if you honestly believe ANY of those things listed above, you are simply TOO. STUPID. FOR. WORDS. Period. End of Story. Ditto if you happen to believe that Glenn Beck, Ann Coulter, Michael Savage, Rush Limbaugh, ad infinitum, ad nauseum have ANYTHING of value to add to the public discourse.
These poll results frankly leave me embarrassed to be an American. To know that I’m surrounded by people who blindly and unquestioningly believe this sort of ignorant, mean-spirited, racist propaganda saddens me more than I have the words to express. I’ll undoubtedly be accused of being elitist for this, but if you’re stupid enough to think as so many Republicans seem to, should you even be allowed to vote? If you can’t be bothered to think, if sober reflection for you is indistinguishable from reaction and rage, how can you claim to have any right to have a voice? Why should you have a voice if you can’t be bothered to use your brain? I say this knowing, of course, that there’s no way could (or should) ever be denied the right to vote for being too stupid to vote. Nonetheless, my frustration is real. Too many Americans are just too damn stupid, and it embarrasses me that I and people like me have to combat this sort of utter intellectual vacuum.
As much as I love this country, sometimes I think it might just be time to consider another sojourn overseas. Horace Mann was right.
