Thursday, September 3, 2015

GOP race to the bottom



Jebus, what next! Republicans don't even live in the real world, but just in some crazy fantasy world in their own head.

How can a democracy survive with citizens like this? And with their attacks on science, on education, on journalism, they're determined to make everyone else as ignorant and as fantasy-based as they are.

Reality doesn't matter to them. And yet these are the people electing our school boards, our representatives in Congress, and - if worse comes to worst - the President of the United States, the most powerful nation on Earth.

2 comments:

Jim Harris said...

I don't feel sorry for Trump, and don't care how much ridicule he gets. But it does bother me that these guys take such delight in attacking all those dumb people that follow Trump. It's tragic that we have so many mentally stunted people in this country, and making fun of them doesn't help. We have a real problem with education in this country. People who believe Obama is a Muslim need to be studied. Is their cognitive failure congenital, or have they failed to learn how to think? We really need to know what percentage of the population can't comprehend evidence and the statistical evaluation of facts. Obviously, a certain percent of people think by a primitive logic that sees reality in terms of myth like memes.

Bill Garthright said...

I think I disagree, Jim. I think that laughing at these people does help.

No one likes to look ridiculous. Now, it might be that universal laughter won't change their minds (though reason and evidence certainly won't do it), but what about the next generation?

And what about the non-crazy conservatives who go along with this because its works politically for them? They're just cynical and opportunistic, not insane. But they probably don't like being ridiculed, either.

But mostly, I think that poking fun at the crazies helps keep young people away. Young people tend to be particularly sensitive to ridicule, and if everyone is laughing at these people, they're more likely to join us, rather than them, don't you think?

I'd prefer to see them informed and educated, with an understanding of why evidence-based thinking is so superior to faith-based,... but I'll take what I can get. Laughter is a tool, just like any other.

PS. People believe that Obama is a Muslim because they're tribal. They'll likely agree with anything bad about Obama, because they consider that part of their tribal identity. And these are faith-based people, after all. Whether it's true or not isn't a concern for them.