IT'S POINTLESS

One of the things I've mentioned that changed with the brain surgery is my tolerance for the outright idiocy on the right wing of the political spectrum these days. Or to be more specific, the lies and misinformation, but even more so the absence of logic and reason, as if opinions based on repeating lies and misinformation loudly or emotionally or with the pretense of individuality makes it true (i.e. someone like Sarah Pailin or Glen Beck repeating tired rightwing propaganda as if it's coming out of their personal experience, like "death panels" being set up by Obama and the Dems to deprive her "special needs" child of his healthcare or even his life (!) etc.)

To hear Obama's successful moves that saved us all from another Great Depression characterized as "Marxist" or "socialist" or "fascism" or other completely inapplicable terms, is to watch desperate politicos and their followers overreach for ways to demonize middle-of-the-road, moderate, pragmatist Obama who has addressed and is addressing issues the Republicans neglected for decades that contributed the most to our current problems.

It's as if there are now two dictionaries of "American English"—one that is based on the meanings of words as they have always been defined in dictionaries since Webster, and another that has redefined common and uncommon words in order to give them sinister or benevolent connotations as fits the political agenda of the rightwingers who have basically stolen the language I have dedicated my life to, as have so many others.

It's an Alice in Wonderland kind of fantasy world where birth certificates and tons of factual data mean their opposite if a rightwing propagandist can strike an emotional chord in the rightwing crowd. Where one person's "retard" means one thing (Dem=sinister) and another's another thing (Repub=benevolent) etc.

I don't have the capacity to recall the kind of quotes and information I used to have easy access to in my mind (for instance I can't remember what Orwell called that kind of doubletalk, was it Newspeak?) but I also have an appreciation for clarity and precision in language I had maybe gotten away from (and may not be achieving now in my writing since my vocabulary and memory seem at times more limited).

If there's one criticism I have of Obama (and I have more than one) it's his and his team's (and most of the Dems for that matter) lack of clarity at times in presenting a simple and concise version of the facts. They either seem to assume the general populace gets the ridiculousness of some of the right's attacks and language distortions and reality manipulations etc. or get too elaborate in explaining and defending their policies, so that, as I've written here before, only 2% of the population in a recent poll are even aware that Obama LOWERED taxes for most of us, unlike the last administration that only lowered them for the wealthiest few, like themselves.

Anyway, I've already wasted too much time on this. It bores me now, because I realize how pointless it is. Not for everyone, but certainly for the rightwingers that continue to spout whatever the rightwing line of the day is (and I know the tea partyers are supposedly something new or giving the rightwingers trouble, but that's not really the case when examined closely and realistically. Whatever an individual tea partyer might believe, the core principles being espoused by those in that "movement" who have expressed themselves in interviews and speeches and signs and angry outbursts at town hall meetings and tea party rallies etc. have honed almost perfectly to the rightwing line and agenda) it is pointless to even engage in arguing. They lack the capacity to acknowledge any reality that doesn't reflect their ideology.

The facts are most, if not all, European countries, and others, that have any kind of universal health plan for their citizens, spend less on healthcare and are healthier by every statistical measure than we in the USA are. And these same industrialized (actually an outmoded term these days for Western democracies) nations have much better education systems and spend more money on education (as a part of their budgets) and get better results, while here in the richest country on earth people are homeless because of the cost of healthcare crises, or dying because of lack of healthcare, etc. etc. etc. and schools are getting worse and costing more etc. etc. etc.

The taxes are higher in these countries, and for that the citizens get a better educated, safer, healthier, body politic. While we seem to get worse and worse. That's what Obama's trying to change, but he's trying to do it incrementally and cautiously and moderately and with well thought out but often too nuanced and elaborate explanations and policies. He's criticized from the left for not taking more bold measures and by the right for taking any.

But it's late and this probably isn't even making sense. Just been meaning to address this sense of pointlessness every time i read or hear one of these rightwingers say almost anything.