I think that I have been an idiot. (Just a Rant)

[Serenades]

I don't post here too often, so I hope that this post doesn't make me seem naive or dumb but I just had an honest crash course with reality.

It has just occured to me that some people are crazy and there is no help for them. A significant portion of the population will side with radical conservatism regardless what happens in the future.

People really believe that we should abolish Medicaid and Medicare.

I was told that anyone who wanted health care could get it.

I was told that the poorest Americans live better than anyone else in the world.

Waterboarding isn't torture and even it is it doesn't matter because we have the right to do it if it means getting valuable information.

I have read that people vote for democrats because they want handouts and are too lazy to support themselves. People *REALLY, HONESTLY* believe this.

People really believe that we are safer because of Bush, the economy has improved because of his policies, and the war in Iraq was the correct move.

You'd be surprised with the number of people who want to implement poll taxes or quizzes to evaluate "intelligence" in order to vote.

No one cares about Iraqis getting killed and no one cares how many are dead. The US can do no wrong. No one cares about torture, corruption, or whatever.

Someone even told me that GWB was head and shoulders better than any candidate running in this election.

Wow! It has just occured to me that no matter what has happened or will happen, these people will not change their minds.

[ananda]

1. God racism sucks!!

nt

[dchill]

2. So why would any of that...

make you think that you have been an idiot?

[Serenades]

4. Realization

I think I just came to the realization that no matter what happens GWB will be a hero and Reagonomics will be seen as for lack of a better word "GRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEAAAAAAATTTTTTTT!!!!"

[dchill]

8. Maybe - to a fringe element of the public.

His approval is at 19%, and not going to bounce much from there. The "Lunatic Fringe" is aptly named. Everyone else who voted for him is misled, they believe their leaders unquestioningly - until their jobs disappear or their pensions disappear or their homes disappear or their freedoms disappear or their sons and daughters disappear in the criminal Iraq invasion and occupation. Then they stop and think, "Why did I vote for this insane, stupid creep?"

[stillcool]

3. Whatever you don't see...

isn't real. And it helps if you're too busy, too distracted to see.

[scorpiogirl]

5. That doesn't make you an idiot.

I think it's just hard for a lot of us to believe that people are that heartless toward their fellow humans. I struggle with that as well; the very idea that these people actually exist in our country and have the gall to say those things that most people would find disgusting and inhumane.

Those people scare me to be honest.

[John Q. Citizen]

6. Check out the Rock Ridge Institute for info on why this is. Just google it.

[varkam]

7. Call me crazy if you want...

but I've long thought it would be a good idea to institute a sort of mini recent events quiz at the polls in order to vote. Such a proposal, on my part, is only half in jest. I recall the poll a few years back that found a significant chunk of the Fox News viewership believed that we had found WMDs in Iraq.

[TreasonousBastard]

12. Look at the original Constitution...

and the state voting rules back then.

Only white male landowners were able to vote in most places, but they weren't considered educated or intelligent enough to vote for Senators or President.

"License to Vote"-- unconstitutional and highly undemocratic, but there's still something to be said for it.

[varkam]

18. That's why it's half in jest.

I don't seriously think that such a policy should be implemented, because then the test gets to be determined by the status quo.

[nels25]

9. Go easy on yourself

and do not rant very often (anger can take a lot out of you, I know this from personal experience and it is simply not worth the effort).

I agree with you and would wager that most any person that posts on DU would also.

The only point I might quibble with you about is being poor in the US as being poor in say countries in africa or most countries in South America.

Of course I could be wrong on this so I will qualify it by saying it is based on what I have learned.

Have a good one!!:toast:

[Serenades]

11. dfgsdfsdfsgd

Yeah, I don't know if being poor here is worse than somewhere else. I'd imagine it would be worse in other countries. But the frame that people place it in when I am involved in conversations or listening to call in shows or whatever is "There are no poor in the US. If they are then they want to be poor."

[leftofthedial]

10. the "backwash" 25%

[unpossibles]

13. "quizzes to evaluate "intelligence" in order to vote."

ironically, I bet they would lose more support than we would, but I'm still not for it.

[annabanana]

14. Sad, but true. I think you'll find that those who believe

this claptrap wholeheartedly get ALL their news from Fox & the biggest RW idiots on the radio. Sometime you can make a dent with some old reliable thing like "A Day in the LIfe of Joe Republican"

(http://tvnewslies.org/Day_in_The_Life_Of_Joe_Middle1.pdf)

[wryter2000]

15. Yup

I used to try to have intelligent conversations with rwers. Then, I realized they were operating in some alternate universe where facts meant nothing. It's a total lack of education in critical thinking that allows what Al Gore correctly termed an Attack on Reason.

[McCamy Taylor]

16. They will if they lose their job or house. Then they will EMBRACE change.

Just like back in the 1930s.

[Serenades]

17. ah

Ah yes, that's another thing. I never realized that "normal" people think the New Deal is crap. I always assumed that people with those opinions were just hacks on the radio. More and more, I am discovering the erroneousness of my thinking.