The United States of Stupidity: We, the people, didn't used to be this dumb

[kpete]

The United States of Stupidity: We, the people, didn't used to be this dumb
Culture | Media | Politics
by Alan Bisbort | April 24, 2008 - 11:41am

OK, I'm bitter. I lost my American flag lapel pin while I was rolling gutter balls at the bowling alley. And afterwards they were out of orange juice at the blue-collar diner where I go for my photo opps with "Cup of Joe" Lieberman. Also, I don't own any guns so I can't bitterly cling to them or vent my anger on the few remaining critters within driving distance of the one tank of gas I can afford for my Hummer. And my flag lapel pin ... honey, have you seen my flag lapel pin?! I can't go out in public without the flag lapel pin! That's like streaking!

Have you noticed we live in a stupid nation now? It's little wonder. We've had eight years of pure stupid in the White House. And during that time, we the people have been massaged by a stupid media, hectored by stupid hypocrites and stupid moralists, terrified by stupid extremists, pandered to by stupid politicians, lied to by military experts on the TV (see last Sunday's New York Times for details). It's the natural law of Stupid in/Stupid out. Welcome to the United States of Stupidity.

It used to be that just the so-called "Red States" (come to think of it, the Red-Blue thing was pretty stupid) were allergic to facts. But now it's all of us. We just sit here and take it all in, complain about gas prices when oil companies run the White House, wonder why the airlines are collapsing and there is no transportation alternative: It's the stupidity, stupid! While we were sidetracked by John Edwards' haircuts, the oil companies got Congress to destroy Amtrak for them — Bangladesh now has a more efficient passenger rail system than we do. While we sat transfixed by the magnificence of Angelina Jolie's lips and Britney Spears' shaven crotch, Croatia, Latvia and Albania moved ahead of the United States on the global Environmental Sustainability Index. While we munched freedom fries and stockpiled duct tape, our national treasury was looted. And so on.

We the people didn't used to be this dumb. Or maybe we're just stupefied by all the stupid. Maybe we would revolt, if we weren't so revolted. Or if we weren't all so exhausted, out of shape, and stressed out that the medical Web sites we consult — because we can't afford health insurance — advise against strenuous revolution.

more at:
http://smirkingchimp.com/thread/14239

[driver8]

1. Great article -- really hits the nail on the head. K and R! n/t

[Nederland]

85. Gee

I wonder why people say that Democrats are condescending...

[driver8]

102. Why am I condescending? Because I agree with this article?

How about a little clarity, here...don't just insult someone and then run away.

If you cannot see what is happening to this country via the media, then you haven't been paying attention.

[Nederland]

118. Thanks for the perfect example

If you cannot see what is happening to this country via the media, then you haven't been paying attention.

Don't you even see it? Your statement above assumes that any person that disagrees with you is ignorant. Rather than accepting the fact that a person might look at the same set of facts and reasonable come to a conclusion that is different from yours, you simply assert that if a person's opinion differs from yours, they aren't "paying attention".

Thanks for proving my point.

[driver8]

122. Lame reply...very lame.

I never mentioned the word "ignorant" -- you did.

I also never mentioned that everyone had to agree with me -- you did.

Thanks for discussing this in a rational manner, though. It is amazing to me how someone who has never spoken to me or knows nothing about me has me all figured out.

[Nederland]

125. Response

ignorant: lacking knowledge or comprehension of the thing specified

When you use the phrase "you haven't been paying attention" that means the person in question hasn't taken the time to understand the subject, and is therefore ignorant on the subject matter. My reply stands as factually accurate.

[Jakes Progress]

136. You don't think we're stupid?

Just how bright do you have to be to put chimpie in the white house ..... TWICE?

[Terran]

109. problem

One can't really be "condescending" toward a group of which one is part. It's criticism, not condescension.

[BeHereNow]

132. You don't need to be a democrat to know that Americans are ignorant.

many republicans have made the same observation.

I work with stupid people all day long and I have to agree with the OP.
Granted, not all Americans are ignorant- unfortunately I think the
majority are.
Not their fault mind you-
It's due to the fact that our education system has been
destroyed and we have a corporate owned media
shoveling the shit to them all day long.

BHN

[OwnedByFerrets]

2. Gladly K & R

[navarth]

3. it's not so much that America is stupid...

it's that we're FUCKING stupid. I'm not running for office, so I can say that.

[puebloknot]

24. I was just about to post that same thing when I saw your post. Except...

...I was going to be nice and say "effin'"

Kudos for courage and truth. Why *aren't* you running for office?

[navarth]

31. now THAT's funny

it would be a waste of time. I'm an atheist, I don't like guns, I think the rich are highly undertaxed, I want tariffs to bring American jobs back. In other words: completely unelectable.

[puebloknot]

39. But don't you have any techie friends who know how to ...

... effin' fuck with computer code?

Come on! Faint heart never won fair election! Oh, wait. Fair elections have gone the way of cookin' in the kitchen, and rakin' leaves with, like, a rake!

I'm old school. Can't help it. 'Ere long I'll be facing Soylent Green! Don't listen to me.

[navarth]

40. Stay away from the Soylent Green.....

...it's people.

[puebloknot]

44. I know. I stay away from people every chance I get! :)

[pink-o]

48. Me too on all accounts! IOW, I'd vote for you in a minute!! n/t

[BrklynLib at work]

4. A couple of weeks ago Bill Maher said it-- The scariest thing is how many Americans are too

damn stupid to realize how stupid the leadersip in the government is.
I could not agree more.
Some of the things I see and hear people say, simply scare the crap out of me!!!

[DrDan]

10. not only that - but we have so many Americans who are afraid to

vote for anyone who appears to be more intelligent than they are - hence 2 terms for junior.


It should be just the opposite - you would never vote for anyone less intelligent.

[BrklynLib at work]

15. Absolutely agree. I would love to be in awe of the intelligence of my President., instead of being

sickened by his stupidity.

[DrDan]

17. yep - I agree

it shocked me in 2000 that there was such an uproar about junior when he CLEARLY was not the brightest bulb in the pack.

But he served the neocons well.

[tblue37]

21. Remember that the main complaint against Gore was that he seemed too

serious and "intellectual," and that turned voters off. You just never want to have a beer with an itnellectual, you know. He was accused of being the "smartest kid in the class,' whom everyone hated, of course.

[navarth]

32. He seemed that way because the lying M$M said so

Chris Matthews, all of them...fucking whores, except Phil Donahue. (Before MSNBC started to open up.)

[DrDan]

35. yeah - but everyone recognized WJC's intelligence and

he was then and still is likeable.

Gore was soooooo stiff. And appeared to be very arrogant. And came across as aloof. I think voters were turned off by that - in spite of his intelligence.

[bdamomma]

26. I want to vote for someone who shows and displays intelligence.

we have all been brainwashed and insulted by this sick regime, and our media has not helped.

[DrDan]

36. ABSOLUTELY!

I have always claimed the same.

There are plenty of smart people around. Why settle for less.

[Canuckistanian]

62. Exactly.

I don't care if the president knows how to bowl. I don't care if the president can knock back a shot of JD with a beer. I don't care whether he/she eats a philly steak sandwich with swiss cheese.

I'd want a president who can play chess. Can speak more than a SINGLE language. Someone who's won a few debate championships. Someone who can solve a quadratic equation and NOT apologize for it. And can hold a conversation about works of literature lasting MORE than 20 seconds.

Because when the country is faced with an emergency, be it criminal, economical or international, it would be HELPFUL to have such skills.

Knowing how to drink with taxicab drivers WOULD NOT.

[JerseygirlCT]

68. Yup. I want to vote for someone

who is smarter than I am. I want someone who gives me something to aspire to. I want someone who makes me think - who demands I think, and gives me reasons why I must do just that. Someone with very high expectations of the American public, not gutter-low ones.

[islandmkl]

5. you are right....

i'm thinking of putting some sparkling lights around hand-held mirrors and selling them as "DetectoDumbAss" or "Stupidometer"....

i figure i can sell a couple of hundred thousand before the buyers 'get it'...

Welcome to the USA - where low common denominator rules...

[FREEWILL56]

120. That's a great idea to get rich with as I'm sure you'll sell more than you think.

Along those lines I'll sell the cure called smart pills. These are the little pills produced by rabbits that once you've eaten enough of them to figure out what they are, you've then become smarter. And for those wiseasses out there, no, I never ate them as I'm smart enough not to.
PS. I am also smart enough not to swallow the same shit coming from DC.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

6. If you read blogs from overseas, or even the comments on YouTube videos

you can see that there are stupid, mean-spirited, selfish, small-minded, deliberately nasty people in every country.

However, HERE the stupid, mean-spirited, selfish, small-minded, deliberately nasty people run everything.

[Karenina]

50. BINGO!!!

:rofl:

[lastliberalintexas]

82. You are right, unfortunately

Le Pen in France and that white supremacist political party in Switzerland of all places prove your point. But if those guys were in the US, they'd actually be in positions of power rather than mostly marginalized. Too bad we apparently like the stupid, mean spirited, selfish, small minded nasty people running things. :(

[kestrel91316]

7. Well, I have noticed that common sense has become decidedly uncommon.....

[truedelphi]

51. Hasn't it? And sometimes it seems like more people are now college graduates than ever before

But that sure hasn't helped.

[Broadslidin]

107. Ah, such a serene & secure life we have here, in our heavily guarded & closed gate community..

:nuke: :hide: :nuke:

[Arctic Dave]

65. Ther is no common sense, only common experience.

Sorry about the preachy thing. It's just one of my pet peeves.:evilfrown:

[SammyWinstonJack]

8. K&R

[DrDan]

9. absolutely

we have "educated" citizens that believe the earth is 6,000 years old.

We have citizens who deny evolution.

We have citizens who believe the bible literally - there was really a talking snake in the Garden of Eden.

We have citizens who do not know who key elected officials are - like the VP.

and on and on and on . . . .

[timtom]

37. And we have people who SWEAR their's is the ONLY way.

And don't get me started on sports and teevee and pop music. If people can't make music in their back yards, they don't deserve music. (Except for Creedence.)

[Hydra]

11. America has been this stupid for years

It's just that now, we don't have a way to excuse it. We don't have a monolithic "evil empire" to fight to excuse all of our abuses of the world.

The stupidest thing? We don't just let all of this s*** happen- WE CHEER IT ON!

[greyghost]

20. self deleted

[greyghost]

22. This country is getting EXACTLY what it deserves. eom

[Hydra]

45. It's what we asked for

and we seem surprised when we get it. Too many people think God will stop the evil people of the world...my view is that if you let it happen, you support it.

[Diclotican]

69. greyghost

greyghost

US doesn't deserve it that bad...

And if US "deserve" it.. Why the hell should the rest of the world feel the pain too?:. The fact if it US get the flue, we on this side of the pound get the shill.. And it is no god to get the shill, even if we don't get the flue..

US deserve so mutsh better.. But US have a long way to go, before US again can claim what was once their "right":. And I doubt that the rest of the world would let US claim that "right" at the same level as US once had it..

Next time you vote for a President.. PLEASE VOTE FOR A HONEST, DESCENT, AND WISE PRESIDENT... As a foreigner I ask you, I beg you, I plea with you PLEASE VOTE FOR A BETTER PRESIDENT that the current CATASTROPHE have been... Please do that... And I would be gratefull..

Please get the "Old US" Back... I really miss it:cry: Today US are far worse than the Klingon's in the Star Trek universe.. And by far, they are in fact some noble creatures too.. Even if they look mean, and are a rather angry specimens

Diclotican

Sorry my bad english, not my native language

[Ishoutandscream2]

33. Exactly. Remember the quote from Adlai Stevenson in the 1950's

A reporter stated that Stevenson had the support of the "intelligent American voters." Adlai replied, "But I need a majority."

[Alii]

72. Sad but true...

If Obama was to make the same statement, out loud and in public, Hillary would would gain even more support.

Suspect that Obama might be saying this under his breath. However, he does have a majority but it should be a significant majority...were it not for...

[bbgrunt]

117. I'll second that. We've been that stupid since Reagan

was elected....and anyone who doesn't think it's great is a "loser".

[Hydra]

126. Big fat loser here!

I'm looking back further and further in the nation's history...and it's the same shit. If America ain't stupid, it's just plain evil.

[Elspeth]

12. It starts with the schooling. We have been dumbed down by our educational system

Trace the dumbing down to the creation of the Department of Education

[kpete]

14. I am a teacher

I see the obstacles every day

uphill battle folks, lots of work ahead, kp

[puebloknot]

29. Roses for the teach! When my daughter was in second grade...

...she wrote a two-page essay, and since I, her mother, am an editor, I looked it over and I couldn't find a comma out of place. Boy was I proud. All that reading to her in the womb, and out of the womb, all those soulful walks and talks had produced a daughter who could think and read and WRITE! Wow.

And then she turned it in to her teacher, who marked it up with "corrections" of things that were right in the first place, and accused her mother of actually writing it. "No second grader could possibly have turned out something like that," she said. After I countered that apparently no second-grade teacher teaching at *that* school could possibly have turned out something even approaching that quality, I removed my daughter from that school.

But then, what to do, what to do? Other schools that followed, both public and private, were populated with a fair number of teachers with pathetic language skills, and attitude about it, to boot.

The good news is that words on a page are free. Add a parent or friend to encourage our kids, and they will soar. We can't depend on schools for a full education any longer.

Whenever my daughter sees Morgan Freeman's face in one film or another, she always says, "He taught me to read on Sesame Street." (I let him take the credit because I only care that she *did* learn to read.)

[kpete]

95. yes

children are born soaring
- as parents and teachers, we need to keep their wings from getting clipped.

Sounds like you are doing a great job.

kp

[Lydia Leftcoast]

46. The dumbing down precedes the Dept. of Education

by many years.

American popular culture has always disdained the intellectual, and far from being "educated," most Americans are "trained."

[scarletwoman]

77. '...far from being "educated," most Americans are "trained." ' Well said!

:yourock:

sw

[bulloney]

87. I think we've been dumbed down more by our media than our schools.

The problem I see with public schools is that more and more children attending come from dysfunctional families. Teachers are put in a dilemma where they need to practice more discipline on the student, but can't due to "hands off" policies. The teachers shouldn't have to be in that position in the first place. If the children had better parental guidance, the teachers can focus more on what they're paid to do--teach.

When the kids are home, they're often glued to a TV, playing violent video games or watching low IQ programs on the TV. We can't tell you who is the commanding officer of our forces in Iraq, but by god, we know all about Lindsey Lohan's car accidents, Paris Hilton's latest non-issue, and can speculate on whether the Olsen twins are bulimic.

[momster]

13. When they took Civics out of HS

the rot began. When they stopped teaching kids the rules by which this nation's citizens rule themselves, when they stopped teaching what all the rules were for and why they were written, when they stopped teaching kids that they have certain inalienable rights, we cleared the way for the Unitary Executive B.s. that Cheney & Co. get away with every day.

[CTyankee]

27. I wish we could get a law passed that said EVERYBODY had to take Civics or they can't graduate from

High School. I took it in HIgh School in Texas back in the day. It was just a given. IF "civics" sounds too boring, we could call it "Our Freedom Legacy."

I have met individuals who did not know the 3 branches of government. How do you go through life not knowing that?

[puebloknot]

30. Maybe we were in the same class. Austin High School, El Paso, Texas...

...Senior Civics. :)

Anyone graduating from high school should be able to pass a basic literacy test, to include English rules of punctuation and grammar, and spelling>

Anyone purporting to be a teacher, having graduated from an institution of "higher learning" should be able to pass those same tests before they're set loose as weapons of mass educational destruction on our children.

For the record, there's no higher calling than teaching, in my mind. But a prerequisite for teaching has to be learning, in any sane society.

End of rant!

[CTyankee]

54. Naw, Hillcrest HIgh School, Dallas, 1957. I was accepted into college at Carnegie Mellon

(then Carnegie Institute of Technology) and Northwestern University without SATs (I don't think they were used then). I decided for Carnegie Mellon.

My grandmother, an Anglo, taught a very primitive school in the most western part of Texas, with both Mexican and Anglo students, near El Paso. I have a few photos of her andher class and they are classics!

I remember my mother, born in 1911, telling me how she and and family dived under beds to escape the bullets fired by Pancho Villo's men in the streets of El Paso. I am not sure how accurate this history is, but she had a rich memory!

[ChickMagic]

99. Hey - Hillcrest High School is just down the road from me!

I was a grove rat - Samuell High School, and we had required Civics.

[CTyankee]

103. Must have been after my time. I don't recall that high school. The only high schools I recall

are Highland Park (because my brother went there) and North Dallas (considered a bad school then, don't know about now).

when I left for college I never came back to Texas to live. My parents and brother lived in Dallas, tho, all their lives. Unfortunately, they have all passed away now, but I haven't been back since 2005...

[ChickMagic]

115. My niece went to Highland Park HS

I think North Dallas HS is being torn down. It's an historical building, but they're still tearing it down in pursuit of the almighty dollar. I've lived my whole life in Dallas too. Pleasant Grove (not so pleasant) was where I grew up, but I live in North Dallas near Richardson now.

[CTyankee]

121. My mother lived in Farmers Branch, both in her own home and then in assisted living.

It was a pleasant area. I loved going to "restaurant row" in Addison. There's fabulous Brazilian churrascaria there. You don't just have dinner there. You have an amazing experience!

[Alii]

66. Literacy test et al.

This might be undemocratic but I think that before one is allowed to vote that they should be required to pass a basic literacy test and the INS Citizenship Test required of all immigrants applying for citizenship in our great country.

Could you pass the INS Citizenship Test? http://usgovinfo.about.com/blinstst.htm

I will ask one simple question: How many senators are there in the U.S. Congress? If you could not accurately answer this one very simple question than you definitely should not be allowed to vote.

Though not easy to prove, I would bet that considerably more Obama supporters would pass the tests alluded to above than would the Clinton supporters.

Learning and education is the fountain of youth. Learn something new everyday.

[Red Zelda]

92. I had civics, taught by the football coach

Like having an empty can teach

[Occulus]

119. Same here.

It was, shall we say, far less than time well-spent.

[LibDemAlways]

100. They still teach kids about their "inalienable" rights

in US History and Government classes at my daughter's high school. And, the same day, they bust into the classroom unannounced with dogs, order the kids to remove their jackets and open their backpacks, and then order them out while the dogs - and jackboots from some private "security" company that brings in the dogs - proceed to illustrate that those "rights" are a fucking joke.

[MountainLaurel]

105. The hypocrisy smacks you upside the head sometimes,

Doesn't it?

[LibDemAlways]

106. I wonder how many of the administrators and school

board members who approved this shit would be happy if someone tapped their phones or showed up to search their homes without a warrant or probable cause. Yet they blithely disregard the students' right to their Constitutional protections. The hypocrisy is, indeed, staggering.

[formercia]

16. My Mother is a perfect example

She believes she talks to God and that everything she does is blessed by God then she buys two lottery tickets.

[Richard Steele]

18. Kikd an rekumendid.

[puebloknot]

25. Come on! We're stupid. Teach us what that means! :)

[Taxmyth]

19. more than the last 8 years

I blame television myself.

[lastliberalintexas]

83. As did my grandmother

I'm starting to agree after the last several years.

[bdamomma]

23. ignorant or willful ignorance.

or I heard a saying once:

Americans are the biggest BS'ers, and the easiest to BS.

Bush has proved that over and over again to us.

[warren pease]

28. Started out dumb, or dummied down? Chickens and eggs...

Hard to tell if it's nature or nurture, but there are really alarming numbers of complete dysfunctional idiots running around masquerading as adult humans there days. I'm sure nature's involved, but growing up in the middle of epic levels of pure American stupidity can't help much either. Consider that...

... by the time Saturday morning cartoons, public K - 12 (mis)education, pop culture, peer group socialization, mass media propaganda, PR, advertising, higher education, hyper-consumerism, the awful world of corporate work and the curse of debt slavery imprisons them, Americans no longer know up from down unless they drop an anvil and see whether it breaks their toes or their skulls.

That's not only the end result of continuous exposure to the American dream machine; it's the intended outcome. When tens of millions of people live in a mythological netherworld of false promises, crushing social and financial obligations and unattainable expectations, they're going to be way too busy and self-absorbed to worry about the FCC's latest ruling to allow more media consolidation or the Iraqi civilian body count or the actual issues behind the candidates' smiles and waves.

I don't know if they're clueless because they're distracted, under-informed, undereducated, predisposed to meaningless idiocy -- or must plain dumb... It doesn't really matter anyway because the outcome is the same: a marginalized, disconnected, alienated and powerless citizenry that spends too much time waiting for instructions and almost no time thinking for themselves.

And to prove that stupidity runs the show, here's a few axioms that orthodox Americans have to believe to remain in good standing with the rest of their doctrinaire imbecile peers:

Taxes on the rich are killing our competitiveness. They hate us for our freedoms. This is the land of equal opportunity for all. Free trade is an economic godsend. Guns don't kill people. The US is a Christian country, founded on biblical principles. The criminal justice system protects the powerless from the powerful. TV news tells the truth. America always acts internationally out of benign motives. Gay marriage is destroying the family. The war on terror is making us safer. The bible is the literal word of god. The policeman is our friend. The liberal media is poisoning this country with secular humanist lies. Brown people are disposable. Global climate change is a leftist fantasy. Evolution is just another creation myth. Socialized medicine is evil. Capitalism lifts all boats. The rich are rich because they're morally and intellectually superior.

So by the time all that's settled and the proper belief systems are firmly installed and operational, I don't think there's much room left between their ears for anything that won't fit on a bumper sticker or t-shirt. Sound about right, or have I misunderestimated the sheer idiocy of modern America?


wp

[navarth]

34. very well done, warren.

well spoken.

[puebloknot]

42. Does the Prozac come with this, or is that extra? :)

You've pretty much summed it up.

I'm -- ahem -- a little older than some of the folks on this forum. I learned to read in an ugly old school in New Mexico, and practiced that art in the summer out under a cottonwood tree to fend off the summer heat. Just me, my brain, and a weather-beaten bunch of books from the library.

I'd like to think that the coming economic bust would lead to that kind of desperation!

[Sunnyshine]

86. Sounds right to me warren pease...

Everything you said is pretty much squared with the raw truth of our nation's troubles.
Problem is- telling the truth often hurts folks fragile ego's, and then other folks could care less about it. They prefer to stick with their own delusions- at the expense of everyone else.

We are certainly fighting an ancient battle. Hard to believe it is 2008. The U.S. has SO much catching up to do. We know the solutions to our problems, but lack the force of progress to get the ball rolling in a positive direction again. We have done it before, and we will do it again.
I think the over saturation of blatant stupidity is becoming pathetically obvious to everyone.

John-Bomb McW especially detests the educated truth. So, let's make certain the he is not elected to be the next commander-in-corruption. He will magnify America's stupidity, ten times more.

[raccoon]

97. Great post. You could start a thread with this one. nt

[Sunnyshine]

110. Thanks raccoon!

It is terrifying to think of how out of control our troubles really are, but even more disturbing to try to imagine what McW would do to compound them. Maybe I could make a thread about that. I'll try and see where I get with it.

[angrycarpenter]

38. Watch the movie "Idiocracy"

It was set 500 years in the future where even the smartest person was totally dim. I saw it months ago and I still think about it almost daily.

The theory was that since smart people have only one or two kids compared with the four or five that poor uneducated people have that we are becoming genetically dumber. Evolution seems to be favoring ignorance.

[Bigmack]

57. That damn movie changed my life!

The first 5 minutes of it... with the yuppie couple on one side and the dumbshit on the other really hit home with me.

As Mencken said... "On some great and glorious day, the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron."

... or a WWF wrestler on steroids.

[Frank Cannon]

70. My ONLY problem with that movie...

is that it supposedly takes place 500 years in the future, when it's really more like 10!

I love that film.

[Javaman]

41. I blame it on the rise of peanut butter coming in a jar! nt

[maxsolomon]

43. No, we've alwasy been this dumb.

Willfully ignorant & anti-intellectual. Thinkin' is hard work.

[GeorgeGist]

47. A nation created by conceited fools ...

is a bitter surprise to those who allow themselves to be duped.

[zorahopkins]

49. Excuse Me!

Excuse me, but the American People have indeed been incredibly stupid -- or "dumb" in years past.

The American people rejected -- TWICE!! -- Adlai E. Stevenson, and instead voted for Dwight Eisnehower.

The American people rejected Hubert Humphrey and voted for Richard Nixon!!

The American people rejected George McGovern and instead voted for Richard Nixon (McGovern only carried DC and Massachusetts.)

The American people rejected Jimmy Carter and voted instead for Ronald Reagan.

The American people rejected Walter Mondale and voted instead for Ronald Reagan (even after four years of Reaganism!!!)

The American people rejected Michael Dukakis and instead voted for George BushI.

The American people allowed the Supreme Court to install George Bush II.

The American people ........

Don't tell me that stupidity and dumbness are a NEW phenomenon for Americans.

[NuttyFluffers]

53. according to that, americans seem to trend towards machismo...

democrats might have to start running steak-eating, beer-drinking, gun-totting, 'roided pro-wrestlers with gravelly voices to capture the "dim bulb" vote...
:evilgrin:

[barbtries]

56. hillary'll do it

n/t

[Diclotican]

71. zorahopkins

zorahopkins

I fear it is something in the water... I doubt EVERYONE in US wotet for the list.. But many enough to get them elected..

Diclotican

Sorry my bad english, not my native language

[Rosemary2205]

52. Oh bull

At one time Americans stood by and let the native people be slaughtered and a whole race of people be enslaved on our own soil.

We are just as selfish and stupid as we always were. And people around the world are not any different. Never underestimate the breathtaking ability for humans to either devolve into mass evil, or transcend into a mass of progressive support and accomplishment - sometimes simultaneously.

[barbtries]

55. kpete, this is great

send it out to the letters section of every newspaper in the land and see if you can't unstupid a few...duh

[Canuckistanian]

58. Alan Bisbort - I thought I was familiar with that name

Alan Bisbort is a writer and editor who has worked for the Library of Congress for more than twenty years. He has written about cultural, and countercultural, matters since the early 1970s, and is author of The White Rabbit and Other Delights, Charles Bragg: The Works!, and Famous Last Words (to be published in October). He is co-author, with Parke Puterbaugh, of Rhino's Psychedelic Trip and five travel books about America's beaches. His work has appeared in The Washington Post, The New York Times and Rolling Stone, and he is a regular contributor to Hit List and the Advocate newspapers.

What an EXCELLENT article.

K&R.

[L. Coyote]

59. MUST SEE film entitled "Stupidity"

[gatorboy]

60. That McCain polls as high as he does, ignoring the past 8 years of disgraceful Republican control

is the icing on the stupid cake.

[Alii]

61. Stupidity vs. Anti-Stupidity

We the people. Barack Obama would like we the people to assist him in his candidacy and in his term(s) in office. The majority of the educated people in this country are voting Obama...Hillary's demographics is, in general, the antithesis of learned individuals. In short, not too intelligent...better yet the "S" word.

Now, let's assume that we would prefer a cabinet based upon the support of the citizens of the U.S., who would we prefer, Obama or Clinton? Please don't respond. Might hear the "S" answer again.

I did say in general. I'm certain there many Hillary supporters that have an intelligent reason for supporting her: She's woman, I'm a woman. Inevitability. She's from my hometown, home state...many of them. She's tough...she'll nuke Iran and any other country that gets in her way...she has proven her courage in Bosnia. Like George Washington...she cannot tell a lie.

[Harry Monroe]

63. My signature line says it all

“As democracy is perfected, the office of the president represents more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day, the plain folks of the land will have reached their heart’s desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron”
H.L. Mencken

We as Americans now have our heart's desire in the White House. He is a reflection of the stupidity of the American People.

I'll add a few more:

“A popular government without popular information or the means of acquiring it is but a prologue to Farce or Tragedy or perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance and a people who mean to be their own Governors must arm themselves with the power that knowledge gives”
James Madison

”What luck for the rulers that men do not think!”
Hitler, Adolf

“The democratic theory is that if you accumulate enough ignorance at the polls, you produce intelligence.”
Vance, Philo

“Practical politics consists in ignoring facts”
Adams, Henry Brooks

But if you remember this, there is hope for us yet:

“A little patience, and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their spells dissolve, and the people, recovering their true sight, restore their government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are suffering deeply in spirit, and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous public debt. But if the game runs sometimes against us at home, we must have patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of winning back the principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles are at stake”
Thomas Jefferson, June 4, 1798, in a letter to John Taylor after the passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts

[krabigirl]

Absolutely brilliant article. However, I'd have to say that we've also never been as overworked.

[krabigirl]

64. Absolutely brilliant article. However, I'd have to say that we've also never been as overworked.

[JerseygirlCT]

67. Absolutely.

And the rush to be the more "real" person - you know, it would be horrible to have to admit to an excellent education - is part of this, too, I think. We've been carefully trained to want leaders who are bumbling idiots in dress-up clothes, to be manipulated by the men (all men) behind the curtains.

Someone who can and actually *wants* to think for him or herself is a big threat. Cannot be allowed.

[Sunnyshine]

73. These truth's are stupid anymore! Einstein said it best:

Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity;
and I'm not sure about the universe.
~A.Einstein

We live here among all this stupidity and self-loathing, and of course our children are merely practicing what has been preached to them. Generations of broken records stuck on stupid.
Sad, but true. Dumb Cartel (D.C) and MSM; over paid manipulators that are stupid by choice.

It is hard to be aware of it all and stay outside the madness without throwing up everywhere you look. Everyone else is in La-La land, and it would just be easier to join them. Assimilate? Never.
Teach, your children well!

[Greyhound]

104. That's the problem, once you take the red pill you can't ever go back,

without doing serious psychological damage. Perhaps most of the obstinately stupid are aware of this (subconsciously?) and choose to stay in their blissful make-believe world.
:shrug:

[Sunnyshine]

111. Destroy teh red pills!

A mind expanded, would not take those red pills ever again. Those who are drunk on stupid, and stuck in the make believe world- are in for a rude awakening. Might we suggest a Red Bull instead?
High octane energy anyone? Intelligence is beyond bottles, but a book is a great start.

[Greyhound]

134. I'm not sure I understand what you're saying, but the red pills are a reference

to the film, "The Matrix", where the main character is given the choice between learning the truth and going back to his virtual world ("Take the blue pill and wake up and believe anything you want to, take the red pill and see just how deep the rabbit hole goes".

[Sunnyshine]

135. In that case- Destroy BLUE pills, not the red ones!

Oy, did I screw that one up. Lol. I was trying to chime in there. I like movies, but not so good at recalling little details like that. So, what about the one's that mother gives you? They don't do anything at all! Right? Something like that...

[Greyhound]

137. LOL yes, something like that.

BTW, welcome to DU.
:hi:

If you have any questions about how this place works, and there are quite a few strangenesses for the uninitiated, don't hesitate to ask.
:kick:

[defendandprotect]

74. ....and TV didn't used to be this dedicated to making people dumb . . . !!!

[santamargarita]

75. We used to have a media, not the Fascist Pigs we have now!

-

[earth mom]

76. The people of this country are stupid if they buy hype that is packaged as hope.

I would have said this article was dead on until I got to the last few paragraphs which whined about how mistreated Obama was during the debates.

Sorry, I don't buy it.

That Obama didn't call the corporate media on their dirty tactics, is his fault, not theirs.

At least Edwards was brave enough and smart enough to say what was exactly wrong with this country during the debates he participated in.

And he was silenced for it.

Obama said nothing because he knew they would shut him down if he did.

Which could be said to be the smart thing to do, but is actually a stupid move because it condones what the corporate media bastards are doing and allows them to continue to say and do whatever they please 24/7.

Sorry, but the bottom line is that Obama is fooling ya'll and so is Hillary.

They are both EXACTLY the same.

They are not going to mess with the status quo.

Nothing will change with either of them in office.

The corporate media bastards picked them as the dem candidates for that very reason.

That people don't understand that fact here on DU after all we've learned these past years is what I call incredibly stupid.



p.s. I usually rec kpetes threads, but I can't rec this one.

[Sunnyshine]

79. Barack could scream and kick and shout,

- But that would make him look totally radical and they would have dismissed him 15 months ago. You just can't walk out into the spotlight and denounce the powers that be, you will only get ignored and punked even worse.

The smash mouth media infiltrates everything. The paparazzi pundits are ruthless.
They are the ones distorting our body politic, leaving it to rot in corruption.
If everyone canceled their cable and turned off their TV, it would all STOP.

WE are the ones who need to change that. Invest in the change we want to see.

Barack Obama is going to help us in doing that, when he is elected. We are granting him the power to act on OUR behalf. He has a rather brilliant mind and he burns for the same change we are seeking. He knows these things must change. His children are counting on it. Mine too.

Constitutionally, I assure you, his intentions are to restore this nation to peace, prosperity, and, tranquility. Yet, WE have to take responsibility in our stupidity and lack of motivation to get up and do something about it along with him. Invest in ourselves again.

WE are doing something about right now. Just talking about it. Barack wants the difficult job of trying to help show us the ways of fixing our broken nation. Together, we collaborate, and put in place the better product that encourages fair society and progressive policies.

We WILL and have begun to take back the PUBLIC arena, and force out the abusive corporate controlled MSM. They are already suffering for it. Seriously. They know it is coming. We have the Internet, and it is free. Democracy is self-correcting, as long as we have an informed and active electorate. Beautiful, but it takes hard work.

[earth mom]

131. I think you'll be disappointed because Obama's allegiance is to Corporate America first & foremost.

The only candidates who would have kicked corporate a$$ were Edwards or Gore.

Obama is just a fake and shallow imitation who thinks Reagan and the Reagan era was great. :eyes:

[Ilsa]

78. I'm amazed people can be so dumb and thoughtless. Here's my contribution

to the subject matter:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=3203208&mesg_id=3203208

[mcollier]

80. The American People are being tricked again

intelligent individuals as yourselves realize that a large American population are simply not well educated. I mean we are imbicles tossed around mentally and emotionally by government and corporations effortlessly. The "That's just the way it is!" mentality is the prevailing philosophy for many... It's difficult to free a mind after a certain age...

[Sunnyshine]

84. Tricked again by....

the wicked powers that have consolidated their empires into giant corporate oligarchies. They eliminated the competition and diversity. The Markets, Washington, and MSM all share the same bed.

We are now closer than ever to addressing these issues by electing a president that is of, by, and for, all of US!It's been so long (decades)since we have had a decent candidate that thinks like that. Maybe our next president elect will be even better, and the integrity bar will shift higher.

Barack Obama is a move toward progress for sure, and the only candidate that is genuine about it.
He is really taking on a monumental task and I hope he continues to invest in what's best for our country. Starting with expanding education programs and making them accessible to ALL children.

[Echo In Light]

88. Twas ever thus. The difference being far more elaborate, sophisticated ways of control/coercion

In many aspects, the twentieth century served as an experiment in mass thought control i.e. the "manufacture of consent."

[Sunnyshine]

116. No doubt. Mass manufactured consent ruined this century.

It is the facade of agreement, even though the real intentions are purposely thwarted to produce exactly the opposite outcome; mass crisis. Divide and conquer is much easier, when we are too stupid to pay attention. I also agree, intelligence can become just as thwarted without having a compass that guides us toward the ethics of reciprocity.

[Echo In Light]

129. Yes. Problem/Reaction/Solution

The Few Big create the problem, use their megaphone media apparatus to stir panic/reaction, and then wheel out their "solution," which was the primary aim all along, but one the populace wouldn't have gone along with absent the "problem." {justification}

[Karenina]

133. "We live in a culture that makes us stupid

keeps us stupid and gives us the arrogance to think that in our stupidity we are superior." -Malcolm X

[napoleon_in_rags]

81. Freakin' awesome.

And the things you mention are just a handful of sand taken from a vast beach of our culture.

Its the stupidity stupid! Classic!!!

[Perry Logan]

89. I'm quite sure the corporate media is responsible. It's the biggest disinformation machine ever.

[MadHound]

90. The thing is, all those people that you are accusing of being stupid,

The media, the politicians, the extremists, etc. etc., they're not stupid. The smartly realized what they needed to do in order to consolidate their power, and they went after it, intelligently, smartly, with malice and planning aforethought.

Propagandists and manipulators are some of the smartest folks in the room, you should never underestimate them. After all, they've conned a lot of the people, that should say something.

[Echo In Light]

93. Many don't understand the difference between "smart" and "intelligent."

Largely due to corporate culture indoctrination. Throughout the average daily round of life within our social climate, the surface trappings are what sways and conditions the public mind.

Smart assholes who are capable, very ambitious, and are geared toward supporting corporate profits-over-people "values" are usually far more common and popular - even among those they routinely use, degrade and fuck over - than those whining, namby-pamby philosophy quoting liberals whose aspirations aren't centered around greed, superficiality, and wielding power and authority over others.

[MadHound]

94. Those smart assholes also quote philosophy, and engage in the liberal arts

Let me restate this, it is a matter of morals, not intelligent. Some of the most vicious RW assholes are also the smartest. Gingrich is an example of this, as are Kissinger, Rove, etc. etc. It's just that their morals are skewed.

Having a large intellect and good education still doesn't guarantee sterling morality. As such, it makes it that much easer for those intelligent folks to sucker in the common man.

[Echo In Light]

96. Exactly. This is why the "moderate" dem phenomenon is so widespread, preferred

[FREEWILL56]

123. We need to make alot of those sunglasses, don't you think?

That might go along with a good hat to let them think of what they have been really seeing all along as it just didn't register with them.:dunce:

[Echo In Light]

130. LOL...if only it were that simple...oh wait, it could be! {?}

;)

[Agony]

91. Like I've said before "March of the stupid people" ...

or more accurately "The march of a stupid people" (we don't have a lock on stupid). Not really a new phenomenon, it is just that the eternal vigilance thing fell apart and we put the "really stupid bad people" in charge.

Thanks for "pick me up" post, kpete! A fresh dose of depressing is always refreshing!

Cheerio!
Agony

[D23MIURG23]

98. We are a nation of passive information gatherers.

Most Americans get news from TV or talk radio, and end up spoonfed drivel and propaganda by lazy journalists and paid shills. People didn't have this option at one time. Critical thinking is a more automatic response when one derives information through reading.

Our current media climate is a perfect storm for intellegence.

[L0oniX]

101. Things went down hill after they started drug testing IMO

[info being]

108. I think we've gotten smarter in the past 8 years

Before, we didn't see the real forces at work...the bullshit that was being fed to us...the way the system actually works. The past 8 years has taught us not to listen to commercial media, and to use the Internet to our advantage.

Watch clips from Real Time w/ Bill Maher from 2001 and from today. We, particularly the left, have gotten much smarter.

[Sunnyshine]

112. Yup.

Awareness does a nation good! Love me some Bill Maher.

[kaybea]

113. Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Comacho for President!!

[SQ_20903]

114. Me thinks

kids are just growing up stupid.

[FREEWILL56]

124. Good post kpete as I have been wondering about people myself.

What often seems obvious to me just goes right over the heads of most. It could also read the United Stupidity of America.

[applegrove]

127. In Canada we are stupid too. We elected neocons two years ago. Oh sure

it was a minority government. But still - D'ya think we could have learned from what you've been through?

[pleah]

128. I have noticed a steady decline since the 80's.

That's when this stupid country elected Reagan and Bush 1.