Apathy Kills Democracy (again)
A little something from Op-Ed today:
Okay, okay, yeah, I know, this is a horrible letter. It's terribly unorganized and doesn't really make a whole lot of sense. It's important to recognize this type of person, though, because Rudolph is like a lot of people who aren't critical thinkers. Basically, Rudolph has just taken a handful of the things he's heard from the right-wing media and thrown them into a letter to the paper. This is pure, unpolished regurgitation. There are a lot of people like this out there, and plenty of them vote. The implications are frightening.
I'm sure I don't have to pick apart these weak arguments too viciously for people who read this space. Chances are you agree with me, or at least you've heard better arguments responded to before. Still, something in me won't let it go without taking a few jabs.
First of all, if somebody tells you that someone else is anti-American, and that person isn't actively seeking to blow up a national landmark, you need to question the integrity of the people you listen to. Being anti-war isn't anti-American. America isn't just one big military cause (yet). Dissent isn't anti-American; dissent is the basis of a strong democracy. None of the people Rudolph mentioned in his letter are anti-American; not even Jane Fonda, though Rudolph seems to take it as read that just associating with Fonda proves a lack of patriotism. Jane Fonda made some bad choices during the Vietnam War - mistakes she has owned up to and apologized for. George W. made some mistakes in his past too, like driving drunk and developing a cocaine habit, but that's okay... those were just harmless muck-ups. The people Rudolph likes to listen to love to point out the past mistakes of their political foes, but are quite forgiving when it comes to their own people. Integrity means nothing to them.
Why is it that Rudolph is so critical of the military records of people he disagrees with politically? Sure, some of Rudolph's information is patently untrue. (Howard Dean was a little too busy to spend all his time skiing, as that would have left precious little time to finish medical school, no matter how virulently Rush Limbaugh might want to believe otherwise.) More telling, however, is the implied notion that Republican leaders have more military clout. We all know what Bush's Vietnam record looks like, or rather, doesn't look like. What about the military records of Cheney, Rove, Rumsfeld, Rice... not a minute of military service between them. It's actually easier for Rudolph to dismiss the distinguished service of John Kerry for his post-war activities than it is for him to question the complete lack of service by the people he's being told are nearly politically divine.
Rudolph, you have to understand that the Democratic Party, despite all those bumper stickers your favorite radio hosts are trying to sell you, is not the Blame America Party. Right now, the Democratic Party is working hard to be the Accept America's Responsibility Party, and they sure as hell shouldn't be ashamed of it. Now, don't get me wrong... they haven't convinced me to switch fully yet. I switched from Republican to Independent, to a large extent because the Republican Party seems very busy blaming everyone but themselves for our current economic situation, our pending health crisis, and the failure that has become of the occupation of Iraq, not to mention their own scandals and corruption. Economic problems are overblown by the media, and things are fine, and if there are problems, we can scapegoat illegal immigrants. Health care in America is strong, even if millions of Americans, including children, are without any health care whatsoever, and drug policy has to favor pharmaceuticals and insurance companies to keep the economy healthy, and our private health care is better than all of the socialized programs in the rest of the developed world, even if it keeps us at the same level of medical efficiency enjoyed in places like Cuba. The situation in Iraq is the fault of the media, who won't report (or can't find) enough good news in Iraq, and the fault of protesters, and the fault of Iran, and if there are real problems with the occupation itself, they are tactical errors by the troops and not strategic errors. You know what, Rudolph? I'm sick of hearing this administration pass the buck. They refuse to take responsibility for anything, and it's both embarrassing and infuriating. It's not about blame, it's about buckling down and facing reality. The Democratic Party seems more willing to take on the realistic responsibilities we have to face, and as long as that's the case, they will receive my support. I was raised to believe that good people aren't afraid to face their mistakes, roll up their sleeves, and fix the problems without causing further harm to anyone else. I refuse to support leaders who believe that responsibility is a thing to avoid, and who mask their irresponsibility with mock patriotism and the blood of American soldiers. Those young men and women fighting for this nation are too damn important to be misused, and regardless of why we went in, it is absolutely incumbant on those responsible to be willing to realisticaly and humbly assess their own decisions. Ninety-nine percent of our fighting men and women will go and put their lives on the line for whatever we, as a nation, deem important enough to ask them to fight for. That's something to be proud of, not something to be taken advantage of by rich, pasty faced men who've never shot anything but elderly Texas lawyers.
I guess my biggest concern about this letter, and about people like Rudolph, is that they seem to represent a growing faction in America. There is not a whit of critical thinking in Rudolph's letter, which he wrote as his best argument for his political convictions. I worry that the marketing of politics has turned a sizeable fraction of the population against true democracy, supporting instead a system of nationalistic autocracy in the guise of representative republicanism. Rudolph seems to hold lack of military service up as a reason to not support the Democrats, but is forgiving of the same offense by those whose political fitness has been most effectively advertised to him. Is there any way to break this cycle of ignorance? Is there any way to make Rudolph think for himself, and to stop confusing politically biased bumper sticker slogans with rational discourse? These aren't hypothetical questions. I really hope the answer is yes, but for the life of me, I can't think of a way to convince those who have chosen laziness to return to the difficult job of running a democracy.
To the Editor:
In America, we have anti-military people who are trying to undermine our military forces everywhere. Let us review some of the enemy within.
Bill Clinton dodged the draft and demonstrated against America while in England during the Vietnam War. Howard Dean, the Democratic National Committee chairman, at age 18 walked into his draft physical with a set of X-rays, walked out with a bad back deferment and spent most of the next year on the slopes in Aspen, Colo.
John Kerry came home from the Vietnam War and joined Jane Fonda in demonstrations against America. Wesley Clark was personally booted out of the Army by the secretary of defense.
The Democratic Party is the Blame America Party. The liberal Democrats want us to be unsuccessful in Iraq.
We have the anti-American Syracuse Peace Council who undermined our troops during the Vietnam War. Now, this organization is undermining our troops in Iraq.
It seems this organization can never be on the side of the United States. In the past the council sponsored a visit by Pete Seeger, who is anti-American.
Rudolph
Okay, okay, yeah, I know, this is a horrible letter. It's terribly unorganized and doesn't really make a whole lot of sense. It's important to recognize this type of person, though, because Rudolph is like a lot of people who aren't critical thinkers. Basically, Rudolph has just taken a handful of the things he's heard from the right-wing media and thrown them into a letter to the paper. This is pure, unpolished regurgitation. There are a lot of people like this out there, and plenty of them vote. The implications are frightening.
I'm sure I don't have to pick apart these weak arguments too viciously for people who read this space. Chances are you agree with me, or at least you've heard better arguments responded to before. Still, something in me won't let it go without taking a few jabs.
First of all, if somebody tells you that someone else is anti-American, and that person isn't actively seeking to blow up a national landmark, you need to question the integrity of the people you listen to. Being anti-war isn't anti-American. America isn't just one big military cause (yet). Dissent isn't anti-American; dissent is the basis of a strong democracy. None of the people Rudolph mentioned in his letter are anti-American; not even Jane Fonda, though Rudolph seems to take it as read that just associating with Fonda proves a lack of patriotism. Jane Fonda made some bad choices during the Vietnam War - mistakes she has owned up to and apologized for. George W. made some mistakes in his past too, like driving drunk and developing a cocaine habit, but that's okay... those were just harmless muck-ups. The people Rudolph likes to listen to love to point out the past mistakes of their political foes, but are quite forgiving when it comes to their own people. Integrity means nothing to them.
Why is it that Rudolph is so critical of the military records of people he disagrees with politically? Sure, some of Rudolph's information is patently untrue. (Howard Dean was a little too busy to spend all his time skiing, as that would have left precious little time to finish medical school, no matter how virulently Rush Limbaugh might want to believe otherwise.) More telling, however, is the implied notion that Republican leaders have more military clout. We all know what Bush's Vietnam record looks like, or rather, doesn't look like. What about the military records of Cheney, Rove, Rumsfeld, Rice... not a minute of military service between them. It's actually easier for Rudolph to dismiss the distinguished service of John Kerry for his post-war activities than it is for him to question the complete lack of service by the people he's being told are nearly politically divine.
Rudolph, you have to understand that the Democratic Party, despite all those bumper stickers your favorite radio hosts are trying to sell you, is not the Blame America Party. Right now, the Democratic Party is working hard to be the Accept America's Responsibility Party, and they sure as hell shouldn't be ashamed of it. Now, don't get me wrong... they haven't convinced me to switch fully yet. I switched from Republican to Independent, to a large extent because the Republican Party seems very busy blaming everyone but themselves for our current economic situation, our pending health crisis, and the failure that has become of the occupation of Iraq, not to mention their own scandals and corruption. Economic problems are overblown by the media, and things are fine, and if there are problems, we can scapegoat illegal immigrants. Health care in America is strong, even if millions of Americans, including children, are without any health care whatsoever, and drug policy has to favor pharmaceuticals and insurance companies to keep the economy healthy, and our private health care is better than all of the socialized programs in the rest of the developed world, even if it keeps us at the same level of medical efficiency enjoyed in places like Cuba. The situation in Iraq is the fault of the media, who won't report (or can't find) enough good news in Iraq, and the fault of protesters, and the fault of Iran, and if there are real problems with the occupation itself, they are tactical errors by the troops and not strategic errors. You know what, Rudolph? I'm sick of hearing this administration pass the buck. They refuse to take responsibility for anything, and it's both embarrassing and infuriating. It's not about blame, it's about buckling down and facing reality. The Democratic Party seems more willing to take on the realistic responsibilities we have to face, and as long as that's the case, they will receive my support. I was raised to believe that good people aren't afraid to face their mistakes, roll up their sleeves, and fix the problems without causing further harm to anyone else. I refuse to support leaders who believe that responsibility is a thing to avoid, and who mask their irresponsibility with mock patriotism and the blood of American soldiers. Those young men and women fighting for this nation are too damn important to be misused, and regardless of why we went in, it is absolutely incumbant on those responsible to be willing to realisticaly and humbly assess their own decisions. Ninety-nine percent of our fighting men and women will go and put their lives on the line for whatever we, as a nation, deem important enough to ask them to fight for. That's something to be proud of, not something to be taken advantage of by rich, pasty faced men who've never shot anything but elderly Texas lawyers.
I guess my biggest concern about this letter, and about people like Rudolph, is that they seem to represent a growing faction in America. There is not a whit of critical thinking in Rudolph's letter, which he wrote as his best argument for his political convictions. I worry that the marketing of politics has turned a sizeable fraction of the population against true democracy, supporting instead a system of nationalistic autocracy in the guise of representative republicanism. Rudolph seems to hold lack of military service up as a reason to not support the Democrats, but is forgiving of the same offense by those whose political fitness has been most effectively advertised to him. Is there any way to break this cycle of ignorance? Is there any way to make Rudolph think for himself, and to stop confusing politically biased bumper sticker slogans with rational discourse? These aren't hypothetical questions. I really hope the answer is yes, but for the life of me, I can't think of a way to convince those who have chosen laziness to return to the difficult job of running a democracy.
posted by Zafrod at 11:31 AM
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