we live in a country full of idiots.

indoctrinating the children? (fuck, C'MON!!)

death panels?

GUNS at HEALTH CARE town halls?

being a Muslim is somehow the most horrible thing in the world, so therefore let's use it as an insult?

LIES

BIGOTRY

IGNORANCE

COMPLACENT SHEEP

fucking damn it, why can't we evolve into a halfway normal society?

That's a new one. From a former congressman, no less.

That's gotta go down in the annals of moran-dom.

What a dumbass.

It's the hypnotic trance of the tv news AND commercials that have those spiral-eyed sheeple doing everything THEY say!

...but they sure as hell get plenty of airtime.

Morans. Imbeciles. Fuckwits. Degenerates. Self-involved shitheads.

and realize that idiot is much more fitting:

idiotic - crackbrained: insanely irresponsible; "an idiotic idea"

idiotic - absurd: incongruous;inviting ridicule; "the absurd excuse that the dog ate his homework"; "that's a cockeyed idea"; "ask a nonsensical question and get a nonsensical answer"; "a contribution so small as to be laughable"; "it is ludicrous to call a cottage a mansion"; "a preposterous attempt to ...
idiotic - imbecile: having a mental age of three to seven years
wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

that would probably help :shrug:

where have i heard that before...

hmmmm...

Think about it.

Start with the premise that I think your OP is pretty stupid. Particularly in the context of mine.

"America: Love it or Leave it" and "America: Change it or Lose it" conflict.

Maybe I'm not one to talk (I love the country but I left anyway) but it strikes me as not exactly symmetrical. It's really, really, dispiriting to watch the type of behavior that's been on display since the healthcare funding debate got hot. Not to say that previous idiocies weren't troubling, but what we're watching now is like the swine flu of foolishness, and it's very hard to stay optimistic.

I think the OP probably needs more encouragement to not give in to despair than criticism for speaking what a lot of us are feeling in our gut.

as much as despair. I don't find that productive. Lately DU seems to wallow in both.

The question is how are we gonna fight it, with hatred or information? Fact-filled posts are not making the greatest page, or the front page. Rather, hate-filled rants telling Republicans to "fuck off and die" make the front page. I don't think that is particularly helpful as much as it may feel good.

Teabaggers, birthers, and deathers that the media is giving 24/7 airplay to. However, I'd give the same advice to DUers as I'd give to Obama: these folks are not the majority, they don't share a vision of the US as a country where people take care of each other across the board, and basically we need to stop empowering them by listening.

Reinstate the "Nazi rule," which states if you call your opponent a Nazi, then I get to ignore whatever you say going forward. Obama and whoever else is needed has to pull together, recognise that the Republican party would rather that people die than Obama be successful, and move forward. Let 'em shout. Once a reasonable policy (on healthcare, energy, torture, etc., etc., etc.) is in place and they begin to benefit, maybe the deluded footsoldiers will shut up.

Or maybe not. But the deal remains the same: if you want to spray angry spittle in my face and everything you say is brainless cant dumbed down for you by professional animal handlers, then I don't have to give you the time of day.

I have been shocked at what the last several months have revealed.

been a confirmation of what i have been complaining about for years.

there really is a massive amount of people in this country who will literally believe anything.

it's astounding.

Not so long ago these masses of people would have been afraid to voice wild-eyed garbage like this in public less they be mocked as cranks and fools. Slowly they brought their darkness and madness out into the light and they were not mocked and they were not ridiculed - instead they were called "concerned Americans" and "citizens with questions."

This is where the Democrats really fell down. These people were never going to support a single damn thing a black president of the United States did. Ever. They would never be won over, so they should have been shut up, plain and simple with the ridicule and shame they deserve. They should never have been entertained as having any legitimate viewpoints or concerns.

after eight years of Bush. It's fugging scary.

Those of us who try to be reasonably well informed about issues of the day are 1) in the minority and 2) still woefully ignorant of most things, despite our best efforts.

It's a very complicated planet with way too many cultural components to really get a comprehensive grasp of human experience in the 21st century.

And then there's the matter of "most people," who are not political by nature, are primarily concerned with things they view as directly affecting them, and are not really in the habit of making fine distinctions about anything.

And who listen to Rush Limbaugh and watch Fux News. And are resentful that they're not as pretty, rich, or desirable as everybody they see on TeeVee. And are trapped in jobs that a monkey could do with minimal upskilling. And are easy prey for slightly smarter and much more devious types who feel a strong urge to escape the mediocrity that everyone else is mired in. And who know how to push a button or two. And who survive despite ethical vacuums inside.

This hasn't changed substantially over the last 100,000 years, except that the reach of the good and the great, as well as that of the bad and the dangerous, has been vastly extended by technology.

I don't think the common run of folks is any more wicked than it's ever been, it's just much easier to get a mob together with metaphorical pitchforks in the Internet age.

see, this is the type of articulation that i lack.

i wish i could recommend your post.

you're right, it has always been going on, but i can't get past the level of "DUH" that we are seeing right now. it's like the years of pharma pumping people full of zoloft and RW media shitting lies down their throat has finally culminated in some type of zombie-like horde of idiocy.

in our water supplies now, who knows what the long-term effects might be.

But I think it's just people being people. Somehow we have to get the attention of these people who are agitating against their own best interests and get them to realize that what's going on around them *does* affect them directly and they need to act accordingly.

people whipped up the most stupid and frightened members of their countries and convinced them that the "Dirty Others" were out to take their money and homes away. The republicans have been practicing this fear mongering for thirty years. KKKarl Rove laid out the game plan and it has been mostly working for them. Look at the fundies and the teabaggers. They don't even believe in science. Anyone who thinks the Earth is only 6,000 yrs old will believe any ghost story you tell them.

B-I-N-G-O

as bad as I have ever seen it. The "news" media loves it, and has dumbed down to meet the rise of the jerks on the right.There is very little reality around these days, and the GOP keeps trying to drown it before it gets too big.

The Republicans and their supporters are the worst group of people I ever hope to see. I have no use for any of them at all.

mark

these are ALL covered like they are the truth by the MSM.

A fake Political System where both Sides play ALL of the people against one another, and are on no one's side but their own.

The most obvious success of this system can of course be seen on The Right, which has mostly been reduced to mouth-foaming, almost Zombie like Mutants with little ability to reason or think for themselves.

In the end, we are a Fallen Country at War with ourselves, as those in control of the strings of Power sit back and laugh in amazement at our Rage Against The Machine, with precious few of us realizing that in reality we are merely cannibalizing ourselves in a Circus of Bullshit, with The Ringmasters watching it all play out for their Amusement.

NEITHER Side is on OUR Side. The Side of We The People

And the warring factions of Right and Left? We are irretrievably Divided and Conquered at this point. Fighting each other while those in Power continue whatever narrow agenda they are using us as a means to an end to.

Mission Accomplished.

and theres got to be at least 50 different versions of stupid, at least... i hope you manage to enjoy your visit and PS dont eat the grey meat...

is focused on test taking and not critical thinking.

People are so fucking intellectually lazy in this country it makes me angry.

And...they...know it

And then my suspicions were validated four years later.