Great Alternet Article on Ignorance in Politics

In case you've been pondering the weird reality that even in this world where Bush and the Republicans have screwed up almost everything they've touched -- and intentionally so most of the time -- that there are still 40% or so of Americans who would vote them in again. There's clearly one big reason, and this AlterNet article says it all: "The Triumph of Ignorance: How Morons Succeeded in U.S. Politics".

It won't make you feel any better after you read it, but it will give you more motivation to get out the vote for Obama and try to turn back the tide of the "dumb and proud" crowd. It's clear that with an Obama presidency, smarts will be back in style and brainpower will get working again all over America.

Have you paid attention to the horrible education statistics in the U.S.? Though overall high school graduation rates aren't too depressing -- but nowhere near 100% -- they are particularly grim in large cities and among minority and economically-disadvanted students. Somewhere only around half of them graduate, and of course these days a high school diploma is the very least a person needs in order to prosper at all. In addition to those who struggle to get an education, there are those who simply go through the motion and don't absorb anything, including the basic mechanism of how to think.

This isn't good, and it makes for a woefully uninformed public and voter base. Hence, you get voters who can't tell when they're being lied to -- they either don't care to find out or can't understand the simplest cause and effect relationship -- but they sure are susceptible to rabid smears and mindless chanted slogans like "Drill, Baby, Drill." I know I'm not the only one who finds that particular chant very nearly obscene -- ugly and ignorant at the same time.

Anyway, read the article, and hope that perhaps some of those uninformed citizens out there have kept enough common sense, at least, to recognize something good and something wise when it's in reach. And that something is a Barack Obama Presidency.

Go! Read!! Volunteer for Obama-Biden this weekend!!! Tell Your Friends!!! VOTE!!!

A List of "What Ifs" for the Election

This post comes from an email I received -- can't find the original source -- but it presents a relevant factor in this election in a concrete context:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Obama/Biden vs McCain/Palin, what if things were switched around?



Would the country's collective point of view be different? Could racism be the culprit? Ponder the following:


What if the Obamas had paraded five children across the stage, including a three month old infant and an unwed, pregnant teenage daughter?


What if John McCain was a former president of the Harvard Law Review?


What if Barack Obama finished fifth from the bottom of his graduating class?















What if McCain had only married once, and Obama was a divorcee?


What if Obama was the candidate who left his first wife after a severe disfiguring car accident, when she no longer measured up to his standards?















What if Obama had met his second wife in a bar and had a long affair while he was still married?


What if Michelle Obama was the wife who not only became addicted to pain killers but also acquired them illegally through her charitable organization?


What if Cindy McCain graduated from Harvard?


What if Obama had been a member of the Keating Five? (The Keating Five were five United States Senators accused of corruption in 1989, igniting a major political scandal as part of the larger Savings and Loan crisis of the late 1980s and early 1990s.)


What if McCain was a charismatic, eloquent speaker?


What if Obama couldn't read from a teleprompter?


What if Obama was the one who had military experience that included discipline problems and a record of crashing seven planes? And was never given a command position.


What if Obama was the one who was known to display publicly, on many occasions, a serious anger management problem?


What if Michelle Obama's family had made their money from beer distribution?


What if the Obamas had adopted a white child?


You could easily add to this list.


If these questions reflected reality, do you really believe the election numbers would be as close as they are?


This is what racism does. It covers up, rationalizes and minimizes positive qualities in one candidate and emphasizes negative qualities in another when there is a color difference.



Educational Background:


Barack Obama:
Columbia University - B.A. Political Science with a Specialization in International Relations.
Harvard - Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude

Joseph Biden: University of Delaware - B.A. in History and B.A. in Political Science. Syracuse University College of Law - Juris Doctor (J.D.)

vs.



John McCain:
United States Naval Academy - Class rank: 894 of 899









Sarah Palin:
Hawaii Pacific University - 1 semester
North Idaho College - 2 semesters - general study
University of Idaho - 2 semesters - journalism
Matanuska-Susitna College - 1 semester
University of Idaho - 3 semesters - B.A. in Journalism

Education isn't everything, but this is about the two highest offices in the land as well as our standing in the world. You make the call.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Makes some excellent points, doesn't it? I think we realize from listening to rabid McCain followers at his rallies that racism is alive and well in America, and that the election of Barack Obama would be one of the greatest things the nation could do toward trying to move beyond it.

Go! Read! Investigate! Volunteer!!!!