From Bob, our former neighbor in Kaaawa:
Quarter of Republicans Think Obama May Be the Anti-Christ
“. . . 40 percent of adults believe he is a socialist,
and about a quarter of survey participants thinking the president is a racist, anti-American and even doing things Hitler did . . .”perhaps
the same percentage believePF flyer’s sneakers
will help you run faster and jump higher
because of the action wedgeor
that wonder bread helps to build your body 12 ways
a greater percentage believe in angels
The important issue is the extent to which such irrational beliefs are being promoted for political ends by those who obviously know better.
Says author John Avlon, quoted by The Raw Story:
It’s a reminder of what the 19th-century educator Horace Mann once too-loftily said: “Ignorance breeds monsters to fill up the vacancies of the soul that are unoccupied by the verities of knowledge.”
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The level of ignorance, racism and susceptibility to devious manipulation in the US is truly embarrassing. And a little frightening.
You mean there is no Santa Claus?!
As someone once said, “It is impossible to underestimate the intelligence of the American people….”
I remember when Ronald Wilson Reagan was called the anti-christ, since his name was spelled with 6 letters each.
Cue The Twilight Zone theme…
It’s called “birthism,” and there’s no logic involved. It’s all reptile-brain stuff.
http://www.honoluluagonizer.com/?p=962
Promoting “birthism” without belief in it is considered politically sporting with tip-offs such as statements of false “facts” in the form of questions, followed by the phrase “Just Asking.” Midweek allows a contributing columnist to engage in this myth-enhancing practice. Hawaii as the birthplace of a president is a big deal, to be protected.
There’s a whole raft of letters in the latest Midweek scolding the author for his tone and the obvious factual errors in his column.
But what about Midweek”s editors? Don’t they feel any obligation to vet or fact-check a column that so casually impugns our president and our state health department, and includes such reckless mistakes?
Are they at all embarrassed? They certainly should be.
Midweek and the other papers in town also constantly print letters to the editor that go far beyond opinion and assert “facts” that just aren’t true, and could be disproved with a bare minimum of responsible checking.
The lazy “print anything and let others dispute it” mentality just leaves readers confused and pollutes the entire public discussion.
Don’t forget these people were raised believing a musty old book of fables penned by cavemen is the absolute truth. It’s a course in magical thinking for dummies.
There’s a fair percentage of the American population that suffers from untreated mental disorders. Even if it is only 1 in 10 that still accounts for half of the Kool Aid partiers. Add that to the fundamental irrationality of fundamentalists, drop in that peculiarly American vice of racism and voila! you have viral nuttery. It comes and goes in waves, it is a hysteria. Like a tsunami, rare but destructive. And there are always the cynicals egging the morons on.
“cynicals”
cynics.
“never underestimate the power of human stupidity” Heinlein
The Chinese are developing a way to get passengers on and off a train traveling 200 kph. We are worrying about where our president was born or rather whether Hawaii is covering up concerning his birth certificate.
With which would an 1860’s or 1990’s immigrant American identify? We have a problem. Hopefully our immigrants will bail us out.