Dumb quote of the day--Jesus wept edition
Being I was from Massachusetts originally, I know people up there. When he [Mitt Romney] put in his health care program, people were squawking about it, but I also know people love it. You know, they say it's the best thing that ever happened. It got them off their fannies and they finally got health insurance.- Ed Faucher, explaining to NPR's Steve Inskeep
why he intends to vote for Mitt Romney in November;
"Even In Florida Swing County, Minds Seem Made Up",
August 6th, 2012
I sort of hate to pick just some ordinary Joe out of the masses and single him out; calling out a dumb quote when it's some big-name pundit or politician is one thing, but this guy, this guy's just a semi-retired truck driver talking to a guy from the radio.
But I heard this on NPR this morning, and I slapped my hands to my head. I think my first reaction really was that old, odd expletive, "Jesus wept", though I'm obviously not religious. Jesus would have, though; would have put his face in his hand while sadly shaking his head and making with the tears.
Because this is a good example of what's wrong with our democracy right now, and with the voting public. Ed Faucher is this guy who was a lifelong Democrat, he says, and who voted for Obama in 2008, but is so disappointed in the President's job performance--including the Affordable Healthcare Act, which Faucher opposes--he's going to vote for Mitt Romney. And this is insane because maybe there are reasons to vote for Romney or against President Obama, but Faucher's reason is that he's unhappy with the healthcare act--the one the Obama Administration partly modeled after the Massachusetts healthcare act Romney signed into law as Governor--but knows that people in Massachusetts liked the healthcare act Romney signed into law as Governor--the one that's similar to the President's Affordable Care Act that Romney has promised to have repealed if he's elected President.
What's worse, is, if you listen to the recording, Faucher doesn't sound unreasonable. He doesn't sound stupid or crazy; he sounds like a nice guy, and if you didn't have the context to know that what he's saying is a snake swallowing itself from the tail up, you wouldn't think he was being irrational. And what's even worse than that is that he probably isn't alone. I suspect there's an awful lot of people out there who agree with him: the Affordable Care Act is pretty terrible, but didn't that Romney fella fix the Massachusetts healthcare system when he was up there?
Jesus wept.
You get to thinking, maybe letting people vote is the Achilles' Heel of democracy. Maybe democracy isn't just the lousiest form of government except for all the alternatives, maybe democracy is just the lousiest form of government, period. I'm not meaning to be snobbish about this--I'm sure you could fill a twenty-six volume encyclopedia with all the stuff I don't know that might be helpful in making informed political decisions; hell, I regularly abstain from voting for things like "Soil And Water Conservation District Supervisor" because even if I really understood what the hell that was, I never know anything about any of the people who want to be it; so maybe I shouldn't be allowed to vote, either.
And then, too, I realize the Affordable Care Act is long and complicated and very few people have had the time and patience to go through the whole thing. I'll freely admit, I certainly haven't, and what I know about the whole thing is what's been explained to me by various reporters, pundits, bloggers, et al. But for crying out loud: even I at least know the ACA has similarities to the Massachusetts system, that Romney is promising to get rid of these programs that are similar to the Massachusetts programs, and that the GOP collectively hasn't proffered an even more Massachusettsier alternative to the already very Massachusettsey ACA. So what's someone like Mr. Faucher thinking? You imagine all those folks just like him and you just want to stick your head in the oven until you remember it's an electric.
Damn energy-efficient modern conveniences.
There is every chance the Fauchers are going to put Romney just barely into office. There's been a part of me that almost hopes they do, and almost hopes the GOP takes the Senate, so that we can see how well letting the bozos be in charge with nobody to blame but their own sad selves works out for everyone. I'm thinking, "not too well", though I'll be happy to undergo an utter ideological conversion if the Republicans' scatterbrained, half-baked, incoherent, juvenile twaddle somehow ushered in an American golden age. Except that even my nihilistic dream of greater darkness before a dawn doesn't work if even a large plurality of American voters are Fauchers: because letting the current stock of Republicans screw everything up so everyone realizes that the adults need to be put back in charge only works if everyone realizes that the Republicans screwed up and the adults need to be put back in charge--otherwise, we'll just end up sending in more trains.
It's bad when you've lost faith in the American electorate to such an extent that you've even lost faith in their ability to screw up properly.
But I heard this on NPR this morning, and I slapped my hands to my head. I think my first reaction really was that old, odd expletive, "Jesus wept", though I'm obviously not religious. Jesus would have, though; would have put his face in his hand while sadly shaking his head and making with the tears.
Because this is a good example of what's wrong with our democracy right now, and with the voting public. Ed Faucher is this guy who was a lifelong Democrat, he says, and who voted for Obama in 2008, but is so disappointed in the President's job performance--including the Affordable Healthcare Act, which Faucher opposes--he's going to vote for Mitt Romney. And this is insane because maybe there are reasons to vote for Romney or against President Obama, but Faucher's reason is that he's unhappy with the healthcare act--the one the Obama Administration partly modeled after the Massachusetts healthcare act Romney signed into law as Governor--but knows that people in Massachusetts liked the healthcare act Romney signed into law as Governor--the one that's similar to the President's Affordable Care Act that Romney has promised to have repealed if he's elected President.
What's worse, is, if you listen to the recording, Faucher doesn't sound unreasonable. He doesn't sound stupid or crazy; he sounds like a nice guy, and if you didn't have the context to know that what he's saying is a snake swallowing itself from the tail up, you wouldn't think he was being irrational. And what's even worse than that is that he probably isn't alone. I suspect there's an awful lot of people out there who agree with him: the Affordable Care Act is pretty terrible, but didn't that Romney fella fix the Massachusetts healthcare system when he was up there?
Jesus wept.
You get to thinking, maybe letting people vote is the Achilles' Heel of democracy. Maybe democracy isn't just the lousiest form of government except for all the alternatives, maybe democracy is just the lousiest form of government, period. I'm not meaning to be snobbish about this--I'm sure you could fill a twenty-six volume encyclopedia with all the stuff I don't know that might be helpful in making informed political decisions; hell, I regularly abstain from voting for things like "Soil And Water Conservation District Supervisor" because even if I really understood what the hell that was, I never know anything about any of the people who want to be it; so maybe I shouldn't be allowed to vote, either.
And then, too, I realize the Affordable Care Act is long and complicated and very few people have had the time and patience to go through the whole thing. I'll freely admit, I certainly haven't, and what I know about the whole thing is what's been explained to me by various reporters, pundits, bloggers, et al. But for crying out loud: even I at least know the ACA has similarities to the Massachusetts system, that Romney is promising to get rid of these programs that are similar to the Massachusetts programs, and that the GOP collectively hasn't proffered an even more Massachusettsier alternative to the already very Massachusettsey ACA. So what's someone like Mr. Faucher thinking? You imagine all those folks just like him and you just want to stick your head in the oven until you remember it's an electric.
Damn energy-efficient modern conveniences.
There is every chance the Fauchers are going to put Romney just barely into office. There's been a part of me that almost hopes they do, and almost hopes the GOP takes the Senate, so that we can see how well letting the bozos be in charge with nobody to blame but their own sad selves works out for everyone. I'm thinking, "not too well", though I'll be happy to undergo an utter ideological conversion if the Republicans' scatterbrained, half-baked, incoherent, juvenile twaddle somehow ushered in an American golden age. Except that even my nihilistic dream of greater darkness before a dawn doesn't work if even a large plurality of American voters are Fauchers: because letting the current stock of Republicans screw everything up so everyone realizes that the adults need to be put back in charge only works if everyone realizes that the Republicans screwed up and the adults need to be put back in charge--otherwise, we'll just end up sending in more trains.
It's bad when you've lost faith in the American electorate to such an extent that you've even lost faith in their ability to screw up properly.
Comments
That's not even factoring in the outright racists, homophobes and misogynists who figure the Republicans represent them better than those libtard Democrats. Yes, Jesus wept and kicked a kitten.
Your spellcheck must've been going off like a pinball machine on triple tilt! Heh.
Excellent post.
So what's changed? Did the country collectively forget (or mentally block) the period 2000 - 2008?
To your point, Eric, I get that one can reasonably take the position that the sitting President has not earned a second term. I might disagree, but we could at least engage in a discussion.
But when you tell me that you are against Obama, or for Romney, based on believing talking points that are obviously b.s. (or getting those talking points absolutely bass-ackwards), then I too despair.
What did that fellow DeToqueville say about this place?