Most Americans are not stupid, they are just too busy trying to put food on their tables and keeping their jobs to pay attention to politics.
Curiously, some very disconnected, very ignorant individuals…and there are a lot of those; went ahead and vented their frustrations by going along with the special interests that facilitated the creation and organizing of the Tea Party. That is not to say that all Americans are stupid. It is just simply a matter of a very vocal bunch getting all the attention and those that don’t, those who are being affected and on the uninformed side can’t be awakened, persuaded that the cause of their woes is the Republican agenda.
As the traditional media mostly serve their corporate masters by distracting and obfuscating, people's perceptions can be changed. Their consciousness can be awakened. They may not have the time to research information that isn't easily available, but they don't ignore evidence that impacts their lives. The bad news is that it does seem to take evidence that impacts their lives to change their perceptions and awaken their consciousness as is the case in Wisconsin.
What this says is that people aren't stupid; they may be mostly be unaware; until awareness is forced on them. But that does raise the possibility that raising awareness might not necessitate crises. Consistent and persistent messaging might do it. If our ostensible political leaders would break through the media firewall and offer such messaging. It's about the overwhelming scientific consensus. It's also about using every opportunity.
By the same token, consistent and pervasive misinformation and lies can have an effect. You repeat a lie long enough and people begin to accept it as truth. The Republican-Teahadists are counting on that and they have used it to their advantage. To this day we have millions of people who believe that our President is a Muslim, not born in America and a secret Marxist/Socialist/Communist. We have people thinking that death panels are part of the Health Care Reform to this day and we even see ads on television with Mike Hucklebee urging us to join them and oppose Health Care Reform before irreparable damage is done to our Health Care System and a terrible blow to our economy. (yet the only ones who would benefit from repealing it would be the parasite insurance companies)
It just never ceases to amaze me how one by one, the Republican Party has been negatively affecting groups and organizations. They have discarded and hurt Blacks, Hispanics, Women, Seniors, Gays, Unemployed, Labor Unions, non-Evangelical-Fundamentalist Christians, Science, Education, the Arts and the list goes on…and who are they left with? Precisely my point; Republicans are not left with much to go on at this point.
WE WANT TO TAKE OUR COUNTRY BACK
“THEY ARE TAKING AWAY MY AMERICA”
It was during the Health Care debates in one of those now infamous TOWN HALL MEETINGS where the elected representative wanted to meet with people in his district and have a meaningful exchange of ideas and feedback from his constituents that this woman in the back of the room rose and tearfully went into a diatribe about how she was afraid and her voice cracking with anguish and pain declared “they are taking away my America”
I will not forget that although I have forgotten which Town Hall meeting it was and exactly when it happened because there have been so many others just like that encounter that it is all melding together into one big, incoherent message that resonates with Teahadists and which Republicans are not willing to repudiate.
It is one of the many askew and repugnant signs of that old ugly snake raising its head: the snake of racism, intolerance, xenophobia, homophobia and religious fanaticism. Only these Teahadists don’t really know it, they are sadly, too ignorant to realize that this is really the issue as they carry a flag with another snake that reads: “don’t tread on me”
To “take back America” from whom; take it back to where? I think that any of the Tea Baggers would be hard-pressed to answer those two basic questions. It is also one significant point that they want “LESS GOVERNMENT, SMALLER GOVERNMENT OR NO GOVERNMENT AT ALL”, they want “MORE FREEDOM”. And another one was: ‘LISTEN TO US”
It is then that you have to ask: Less government from what? From having regulations? Less government from interfering in our private sex lives? Less government to offer safety nets? What is it exactly what that less government entails?
You also question this mantra of “SMALLER GOVERNMENT” What in the hell are they talking about? “Government is too big” they will repeat like parrots. But our government is as big as it needs to be if you consider that we are arguably the number one super power in this world of ours. To have anything else is a defeatist, self-destructive outlook that would make our country a third rated, third world nation.
And then there is this beauty: “MORE FREEDOM” More freedom to do what? More freedom for whom? Are you now deprived of some freedom that you have to go out and carry a sign protesting that deprivation? Is there some freedom you stand to lose if your Tea Bag Party does not win? I dare say NO.
I would also like to say to these Teahadists: I will start LISTENING TO YOU when you have SOMETHING TO SAY.
