In response to the meme at left, a reader notes:
Republican candidates in Texas: “I’m going to fix the mess the Democrats made” – who is more pathetic, those GOP conmen or the morons who keep voting them in?
This is an astute observation. There is always a market where supply and demand meet. It doesn’t matter if that market is a social evil like heroin (there are heroin dealers because there are heroin addicts), or a good one (there are excellent colleges because some parents are willing to pay a great deal to have their kids well educated).
As America descends ever further into ignorance, do not expect voters to have the epiphany to the effect that they’ve been lied to.
There is also a psychological effect at play here. As Carl Sagan said:
“One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.”
Today, I met a professional driver for the film-making industry whose principal focus is stunt-work.
Somehow, we got to talking about the many movie stars for whom he’s worked over the years, and how pleasant most of them are to be around.
He started by mentioning Kevin Costner.
“I really like him,” I said. Please tell me he’s not an asshole.”
“Oh no; he’s a prince,” my new friend replied. “I also do the driving for Jay Leno’s show about his massive garage full of vintage cars. He’s even kinder. When we’re having lunch between shootings, he’ll often come up our table and ask if we need another Coke or two. Maybe desserts?”
We eventually got around to the stars who are, in fact, assholes.
“I drive in Lethal Weapon 4,” he began.
“Let me make a stab. Mel Gibson?”
Yes. One of the most hateful, most miserable people you could meet in 100 lifetimes.”
“That’s the rumor everyone’s heard,” I responded. “It’s weird how people who have more money that God feel the need to be such terrible people.”
“Well, my theory is that money doesn’t change people; it only amplifies them.”
I remind him of Henry Ford’s observation above.
Great conversation.
How Trump has any credibility with Americans–or the other citizens of planet–is a mystery that is impossible to unravel.
At This Point, No One Should Believe a Word that Comes Out of Trump’s Mouth
It’s good to hear Bernie Sanders say what he did here, but it’s sad that it needs to be said at all.
Are we really interested in lower grocery prices if we’re living in a dictatorship?
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