Public Cynical about Politics... Oh Really?
Public grows more cynical about politics, poll finds By Elizabeth Miller July 27, 2007 I wonder why...
- Dem/S don't give a damn about the war on the US by the terrorists and paint us as the bad guys to get back at Bush.
- Republicans abandoned US to the waves of illegal immigrants to curry the favor of the Hispanics who still don't like them and pissed off the rest of us in the process.
- Dem/S want to raise taxes when low taxes (relatively) are what is keeping the economy going despite the war.
- Republicans can't field a viable candidate who doesn't look like a leftist light. They have flat abandoned fiscal responsibility and are working to find ways to run from national security.
- The Media is more worried about Lindsay Lohan and Michael Vick than they are about Iranian nukes and the bloodbath that will follow if we precipitously withdraw from Iraq.
- There are a number of pols who don't want to defend the USofA and don't want us to be able to defend ourselves in our homes. Of course they all have security.
- Global warming is a fraud to give Al Gore power and money from sales of carbon credits but the Dem/S won't blow the whistle on him and the Republicans are trying to use the issue to their advantage instead of calling bullshit.
So, what do I think? Well...
My friend John and I were talking yesterday. He is a veteran of Afghanistan. I've only served 4 years 9 months in the Republic of Korea, the closes I've been to a combat zone (folks who've been on the DMZ know what I'm talking about). We're about the same age and have about the same amount of time in service and we're both retired. We also both have some experience in the intelligence field and keep up through each other and our respective contacts. So, with that background do we have any thoughts on the cynicism of the "public"?
I would say that we think that there is a large percentage of the population, perhaps even a majority (more than 50% or one-half (½) for those of you in Rio Linda) who haven't the faintest idea of what is happening in politics at any level, local, state or federal much less at the international level. We also feel that these are the only folks who are so cocksure of themselves that they actually sit on the phone and answer the pollsters on these subjects. This is one reason that the politicians, extremely poll driven, don't know what people really think about the issues of the day. IOW, they are getting only the opinions of the ignorant.
Of those who actually follow the news at least somewhat through comedy and daytime TV talk shows, it seems that the majority think that the two parties are about on par so far as performance goes and that performance ain't good. Then you have the hard core news junkies like me. I even like reading about permutations in the railroading business. That's a news junkie. Anyway, those folks are just about fed up with all the tom-foolery going on at most levels of government by members of all the political parties. I've touched on only a few topics above others include,
- rampant uncontrolled development of rural properties
- using property assessments to create tax increases while appearing to hold the line on taxes by limiting the tax rate increase.
- fining traffic law violators with civil penalties above and beyond the fines in order to work around demands not to levy new taxes and then applying those civil penalties to Virginians only!
- creating a panel to review the Virginia Tech shooting with only one real goal, gun control.
- using emminent domain to seize private property for other private interests because those private interests will allegedly produce more tax revenue.
- bad mouthing everything in this country while at the same time assisting those illegally entering the country because it is so much better than anywhere else.
and it goes on and on. Are we actually surprised that the majority notice and give the Congress a 14% approval rating?
Let us face facts, failure in the middle east will result in a bloodbath in Iraq with Iran filling the power vacuum there. The Iranians with Iraqi oil will use that leverage to increase oil prices. They will likely be able to destabilize the Saudi government and control that oil. Spiking oil prices will result in economic disaster in many countries of the world. Even if we somehow manage to overcome our environmental extremists and drill for oil here to overcome those shortages (after several years), the destabilization of our trading partners including China will cause an economic paralysis here. Rapid deflation will result in impoverished citizens (remember the great depression) and a return to a barter economy. The problem is that about 50% of the population lives in the cities without recourse to self-supporting food sources (and having been dependent on the government for financial viability). What do you think will happen to those folks? Do you think they will quietly starve in their cities or will they spread out into the rural areas like locusts? If Iran/Hezbollah/Al Queda manage to set off a couple of dirty or nuclear devices in major ports or economic centers here in the US, what do you think that will do to the economy? And yet none of this matters to the politicians who are very busy doing whatever it takes to staying in power.
Folks, even the uninformed mostly know that this isn't going to work. So, while they may tell a pollster one thing in answering the slanted questions he asks over the phone, they aren't buying this themselves. And these are just the folks that agree with me. Those that are on the opposite side, the Neville Chamberlain supporters, they're angry too because they realize that all the machinations in Congress are merely ploys to placate them and divert their attention from what is really being done (or rather not being done).
After discussing all this, John and I came to the conclusion that we'd best be ready to face a future where bicycles are the preferred mode of travel and one barters one's way to a full stomach and being mostly warm during the winter.
Labels: AbuserFees, Culture, Politics
