We Americans need to open our eyes

Tom Toles' commentary:

So in a democracy, people are free to vote for incoherence and are apparently about to. For an example you could look at the new so-called Republican "plan" for dealing with the deficit. Tell me that it makes any sense whatsoever. Really, just try, once you get past its airy platitudes. It will give you a refreshing break from explaining why carbon dioxide doesn't really trap heat.

Unless the economy changes direction completely, Americans need to open their eyes and see a world where there will be continuous downward pressure on wages and benefits. Except for the rich, of course, who are being forced to adapt to an ever-mushrooming share of the wealth. Conservatives who think this is the best of all possible worlds also think that priority number one is squeezing some people back out of the federal health safety net. "Someone else." Someone undeserving. We'll leave for another day a discussion of who they think that someone else may be. What they don't realize is that "someone else" will likely soon be them, and there will be nowhere else to turn.

If you were an objective observer, if there were still such a thing, you might be amazed that a significant portion of the voting public, whose wages, health care and retirement benefits are under ruthless market pressure, are fanatically fighting to make sure nobody will be around to ameliorate the consequences. You might say that having working people so viciously divided amongst themselves over their own interests might just possibly be the rich man's dream come true! High fives all around in the corporate executive suite! Enjoy the funny way corporations have of saying THANK YOU!