Thursday, January 21, 2010

Fuzzy Math

I'm no math wiz, but I had no idea that 41 was greater than 59. Apparently, the Republicans are not only in control of the senate, but are also the most popular party in the nation. This despite the Democrats holding wide margins in the senate and house and owning the White House.

The Republicans' majority of negative 18 in the senate isn't going to halt the Democrats agenda, their lack of savvy will. It makes me sad to say it, but most Americans are a little dim. They respond when you say, "He's a socialist" when discuss the merits of Obama's economic plan. If you try to elucidate the complex factors involved in Afghan war, including the role of CIA funding of the Mujahedeen, you are part of the "Blame American first" crowd. If you try to discuss safety concerns in Iraq before the U.S. invasion and after, a high ranking Bush official will yell at you about rape rooms. Americans go for that.

It's not fair that the rebuttal to the case for a public option as part of the health care system or concerns over climate change is a cry of "socialism." But that's the reality. We’ve become a nation who can’t think critically. As a result, the party not in power, without any real ideas, can sell their message better than the one everyone voted for a year ago. The Democrats need to figure out a way to use their majorities before they evaporate later in the year... for real this time.

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