I am struck
by the hypocrisy, or more precisely, the outrageous degree of hypocrisy the two
main political parties, and their leading politicians exhibit in not only this
presidential campaign, but in all the bombastic political talk that inundates us
on a daily basis. There is a quotation, oft
attributed to Alexis de Toqueville[i],
but perhaps coming from Joseph de Maistre’s[ii]
Lettres et Opuscules Inédites vol 1 letter 53[iii],
that said “In a democracy, people get the government they deserve.” If this is true then it follows that we the
citizens have brought on ourselves these campaigns filled with sexual accusations, political corruption, base name calling, accusations of racism, and other personal attacks.
One has only
to spend a few moments on the social media so popular today (i.e. Facebook,
Twitter, or others I never see) to recognize that we, as individuals, have come
to accept the basest level of conversation when dealing with strangers or even
friends. The moral outrage of the opinion
media, politicians (and their wives), and all the celebrities they can muster
over the language and views of Donald Trump means nothing when they accept that
same language on a daily basis in the entertainment industry, becasue those
entertainers can be used to help further their political agenda.
Let’s talk
about news and opinion journalists for just a moment. I used to believe journalists were impartial, and would dig into
stories to uncover the truth, and while a newspaper would support a particular
party or agenda, there was always an off-setting paper to show the other
side. In today’s world that construct
has disappeared. It has become obvious
that the mainstream broadcast media of ABCNNBCBS is totally on board with the
Democratic party and will do whatever they can to vilify the opposition and protect
their own politicians. There is a sense
of elitism and distain for anyone who does not share their urban sense of
propriety as we see in the accusations of racism and stupidity they assign to
the average citizen. Yet we continue to
support this cartel in viewing their products. Today outsiders to the ABCNNBCBS
cartel are the ones digging up the alternative explanations and hidden facts,
which of course they condemn when it runs counter to their preferred narrative
(e.g. Glen Greenwald and the exposé on global surveillance). Or you can look at the time they spend
talking about one candidate’s faults versus the others, or even the mere mention
of alternative candidates, so just concede those we look to for honest
reporting are hacks for one party and move on.
Then we come
to our culture as a general baseline for morality. If we glamorize violence in film, song and
games, why are we shocked when it appears in the behavior or our young? Are we
so blind as to not see the cause-effect relationships we have created? When movies first came out, and began their
wide appeal of bringing fantasy to the masses, we saw the distinctions between
life and fantasy. We taught our young in
home, church and school how to be responsible within the confines of society and
the movies they spent their nickels on at the Sunday matinee reinforced the
concepts of good and evil. Roy Rogers or
Gene Autry were the good guys; they wore the white hats. They didn’t shoot first and always saved the
day. The violence was limited, and the
gun fights were vague enough not to traumatize the viewers. Can we say that today where in an action
move of 2 hours we can expect 90 minutes of non-stop violence? Where a bad guy can shoot a thousand rounds
and the good guy isn’t hurt because the couch stopped the bullets? I find the celebrities (actors, directors,
producers and companies) who profit from these movies, but then come out to
condemn gun ownership to be among the biggest hypocrites we see today, and the
purest puppets of the elite who use them.
In three weeks about 60% of the eligible voters will go to the polls to cast their
ballot. In some areas a few dead people
will vote as well, but I don’t think they will be swing the election, but with
the Clinton's you never know. However the
vote goes we will get the government we deserve. We have, for the past 20 years encouraged ad
hominem attacks of those we disagree with, we believe one party is evil and the
other is righteous, we cast aside respectable behavior for political spectacle,
and degrade the value of human life through performance, science, and social
standards, and through it all both the leading candidates have been there. One on reality TV the other on reality
Politics.
[i]
French diplomat and historian who travel the United States in the first half of
the 19th century. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexis_de_Tocqueville
[ii]
French philosopher and diplomat. Maistre
claimed it was the rationalist rejection of Christianity that was responsible
for the disorder following the French Revolution. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_de_Maistre
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