Charles Pierce: The Country Simply Can't Go On Like This

[antigop]

http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/The_Man_With_The_Disease

What we had in the AIDS epidemic was political opportunism married to what became obvious ignorance. What we are seeing now, promulgated by a conservative bubble machine that has built a self-sustaining universe around itself, is political opportunism married to an active campaign of disinformation. This is a terrible thing. The people making a profit out of it are people who are too lazy to mug old ladies or swindle the blind. The people making a profit out of it are people without consciences, people who are as free of patriotism as they are free of the inconveniences of having a soul. These are dangerous people, and it's far past time for the honorable people in my profession to stop treating them like the worthless hacks they are. They are no longer cute. They are no longer funny. They are no longer the respectable "other side" of some fanciful imaginary political debate. They are dangerous propagandists. They are peddling poisonous lies and putting people's lives at risk. Every journalist who treats them as anything else, and every politician who treats them as anything else, are actively abetting evil.
...
The country simply cannot go on this way, with one of our two political parties completely insane, and with a counter-cultural universe that claims the right to promulgate its own science as equal to the science produced by actual scientists, and with this dangerous lunacy treated as legitimate by powerful people who ought to know better. As I once wrote, it doesn't matter how many people vote for the anti-gravity party, you still can't flap your arms and fly to the moon. A dangerous disease is not a matter of debate. Your profitable fantasy and the reality of the disease do not deserve an equal place in the discussion of what we as a society will do about the disease. The response is going to have to be precise and empirical. It is going to have to be impatient with cant, and immune to the delusions on which demented ideology feeds.

[Scuba]

1. Pierce is right, and the wisest among us either aren't that wise, or are in on it.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025619800

[Orsino]

5. The wisest among us are kept from power. n/t

[calimary]

17. And the dumbest of them get promoted to hosting "Meet the Press."

[MannyGoldstein]

2. +1 billion

These are not serious proposals. They are flecks of froth from a mad dog's snout.

[pscot]

3. The drift away from reality

started when the country rejected Jimmy Carter for Morning in America. We've come so far I don't believe you can even see it from where we are now.

[ALBliberal]

34. can you please explain that? thanks

[pscot]

39. Carter saw the future and told us we had to get ready for it

He put solar panels on the White House and told us to put on a sweater instead of turning up the heat. It was the political equivalent of urging us to eat our broccoli. Reagan's campaign slogan was "It's morning in America". We don't need no stinking solar panels. All our problems could be solved by cutting taxes and letting the "free market" rip. Carter was just a sad sack who didn't understand American Exceptionalism. Reagan was Dr. Painless, and the voters lapped it up. So did the Democrats in Congress.

[The Magistrate]

4. That, Sir, Is A Thing Of Beauty

[freshwest]

20. ^^^^

[Hekate]

23. Amen, and again I say Amen. nt

[world wide wally]

6. "Knowledge is power" was posted in the hallway of my elementary school all those years ago.

Now we have become a nation that scoffs at knowledge and embraces ignorance.
The devious are leading the blind and the people who don't care just don't care YET.
I'm pretty convinced that they will sooner than we think, but even at that, it will be too late

[mountain grammy]

12. I'm sure that sign's been replaced with a crucifix or picture of Jesus by now.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

7. I could not agree more. the propaganda media is run by and for a group of utterly evil people.

The poisonous influence needs to be understood, and dismantled.

[Fred Sanders]

8. The propaganda media is indeed nothing more than evil men with money and no morals who

use the charlatans and hucksters in the media because they both are in on the scam and profit from it.

Dismantling it? You can barely point it out without being attacked, note how Obama's mild rebuke of Fox Propaganda is met with howls of protest and victimhood from all quarters.

[Volaris]

9. Well if they want to feel victimised, I say let's give them a good reason to own that title...

Not for profit newsrooms, in every broadcast station and cable in the US, and you don't have to comply, but if you don't you're LEGALLY required to call what you're doing entertainment, and not news. If you dont, the Federal govt. reserves the right to yank your corporate charter, shut down your business and sell off the pieces to the LOWEST bidder.
Because Fuck You, THAT'S why.
It will happen ONCE, and then this will never be a problem again.

[Fred Sanders]

10. It would be simple as a federal law prohibiting federally licensed radio and TV stations from

broadcasting lies, not so simple, but doable.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

19. yep. I know. it's one of my repeated hot issues when I post.

[wandy]

11. Sometimes it's good to know you are not the only one that feels that way............

The country simply cannot go on this way, with one of our two political parties completely insane, and with a counter-cultural universe that claims the right to promulgate its own science as equal to the science produced by actual scientists, and with this dangerous lunacy treated as legitimate by powerful people who ought to know better.

Thank you Mr.Pierce

[calimary]

18. And all of us who DO know better get off our asses and VOTE next month!!!!

[wandy]

22. Damn Stright!. They have already sent the info and I expect the ballot in the mail.........

any day now.
Voting by mail is a wonderfully thing. On local things you can sit at the PC and do some research on those local referendums before you vote.

If they were serious about this voter fraud stuff they would encourage vote by mail.
Oh wait. That would make it too easy. It would make it simple to separate the wheat from the chaff. Defiantly not what Mr. Jim Crow wants.

[calimary]

33. What I also do is look over who's supporting whom and what.

Sometimes in your voter info guide (ours, and our ballots, just came here in CA), those in favor and against the propositions are listed. That'll tell you a lot. If you can, try, quickly, to scan those bottom credits in the fine print, at the very end of all the TV campaign commercials. It'll tell you who's funding that spot. Yes it's only a moment but you can grab a glimpse of various oil companies, or Blue Cross or some sort of weasel-worded "Americans for Getting Free Stuff and Not Having To Pay Any Taxes" or "Freedom-Freedom Foundation" or "True-Blue Patriots of USA USA USA" or "Voters for Freedom to Be Wealthy and Get Free Stuff..." That's generally a tip-off that it's a wrong-wing scam of some sort and you shouldn't be lulled. Often if the complaint is about how costly it is, it's a GOP thing. And don't worry if you missed all the fine print. That damn commercial will re-run, and re-run, and re-run.

[mountain grammy]

13. Great piece by CP, as always,

now start naming names and specifics besides Laura Ingraham. Stewart and Colbert have been calling them out for years.

[hatrack]

14. Explosively on-target, as usual

Pierce is rapidly becoming my favorite blogonaut.

[Paladin]

15. I repeat: If you don't have Pierce bookmarked for daily reading, you're cheating yourself. (nt)

[colsohlibgal]

16. Agree Totally

Until we break the two party monopoly, both parties co-opted by Wall Street etc, we will keep heading downhill to who knows where - at least 99% of us will. But if 99% have nothing to lose I'm not sure it would be a bargain for the 1%. Something for the gilded set to ponder.

[whereisjustice]

21. The problem is, kids are busting their asses in school, going into deep debt, then getting shitty

jobs when they graduate. If they are lucky. So we tell our kids they have to work harder in school, they go even deeper in debt and every job worth a damn is finding its way to India and China.

Then they look at Facebook, MSFT, etc and see multi-billionaires without a college education, or they see kids on trust funds, jetting around the world complaining about taxes and regulations.

Stop sending millions of jobs a year to Asia. Stop importing 10s of thousands of jobs a year from Asia via the H1B programs.

As it stands, the harder kids work in school, the harder it is becoming for them to make a good living on their own and they go deeper into debt. Which ultimately leads to the question, who is higher education really benefiting?

[840high]

30. +1

[ReRe]

24. K&R

I hope everyone takes time to read this essay all the way through. I think it's one of Charlie Pierce's best of late.

[New Orleans Strong]

28. I say that about more and more...

...of this national treasure's every goddamn, on the mark, piercing - if you will, works of political all art. His 4th of July piece. His epic, "Reign of the Morons". He makes so much sense through and with only truth, but nobody seems to value that now, And the comments from people you want to have over for supper... No! The weekend!

[ReRe]

31. Did you happen to see Bill Maher last night?

I thought the same thing about that group (minus the black Republican.) Yeah, Charlie would be a good one to have over for dinner party with other like minds, for sure.

[TygrBright]

25. My god. Read this. Just read it. Read the whole thing. Click the link!

Just do it! READ IT!

And then forward it, and forward it, and forward it. Make a meme out of it. Post it on Facebook, post it on Reddit and Tumblr and tweet the hell out of it.

Here's the money shot, but READ THE WHOLE THING ANYWAY:

"...it doesn't matter how many people vote for the anti-gravity party, you still can't flap your arms and fly to the moon."

Send this to your crazy brother-in-law, to the wackjob cousin, to all the yobs and bozos who keep forwarding those annoying Libertarian and right-wing emails to you.

This is more than good.

gratefully,
Bright

[ReRe]

32. That's how it hit me too, Bright. ;-) n/t

[TRoN33]

26. I'm willing to bet that if GOP takes over the Congress

I would expect big terrorist attack on American soil because terrorists knew it will easily push the paranoid button of Republicans so they can have a 'reason' of the impeachment of President Obama. Terrorists literally are far more fearful of Obama over Republicans.

[niyad]

27. k and r

[blkmusclmachine]

29. Oh yes it can go on, and thrive. "THE FAMILY" is calling the shots. After 60 years, they finally own

both Parties.

[tomp]

35. I agree 100% with the gist of the article, but...

..his language at one point confuses me:

"These are dangerous people, and it's far past time for the honorable people in my profession to stop treating them like the worthless hacks they are."

Does he mean START treating them like the worthless hacks they are, or does he mean they are worthless hacks AND simultaneously worse than worthless hacks, deserving of different treatment than that required for worthless hacks?

[raouldukelives]

36. Huge K&R

For every tiny person out there legitimately trying to make a change for the better, there are many who invest in the very corporations trying to stifle that change.
For every tiny journalist that correctly puts them in their place. There are many that puff them up and laud them as great people.

[greymattermom]

37. vaccines and epidemics

Those who don't believe in using vaccines will suffer epidemics. Then their numbers will decline. Stupid is dangerous to your health. What will happen when there is a vaccine for ebola?

[DhhD]

38. Texas officials were not set up to handle Biometrics and HazMat without Medicaid Expansion.

Rick Perry turned down Billions of dollars it would take for those without ACA and/or Medicaid Expansion to be contained and treated at Texas hospitals, except maybe at large county hospitals like Parkland where the Dallas County Hospital sends the cost on to Dallas County Hospital District taxpayers. Dallas County residence get a yearly bill from the Dallas County Hospital District.

Answer in Texas, turn people away if they have no health insurance.

I think Texans deserve to know what the cost to Texas will be. It seems there could be a law suite to pay the victims. No Medicaid Expansion is really going to cost Texas, in my opinion.

http://thsg.tamu.edu/expertise.htm

[Doctor_J]

40. but nothing will be done about it

We the people are pretty impotent, and our representatives refuse to even stand up to them, let alone call them out as morons, liars, and fascists. So how is anything going to change?