A prevalence of ignorance

Prevalence of ignorance

To the editor:

At the outset, I guess I should define prevalence for tea party types who hold up signs saying things such as, "Keep the government's hands off my Medicare."

Prevalence is an adjective defined as being widespread at a particular time as in the "social ills prevalent in society today."Getting that out of the way, I'll get to the crux of what I want to say.

Back when I leaned strongly Republican, intellectual giants such as William F. Buckley were the voices and inspiration of the party. They were intelligent, articulate and presented well-reasoned opinions, often using words I had to look up, and backed them up with cherry-picked but well-researched and inarguably correct information. Although they had a strong appeal to policy wonks such as me, to the average person on the street, who was more interested in who will win an upcoming game than in anything that might actually affect their lives, they were largely unknown. Back then, conservatism was unable to reach what author William Makepeace Thackeray called the "great unwashed" in "The History of Pendennis." That reference pretty much points out the difference between seekers of even boring truths and the majority of people who have little interest pursuing anything beyond their next fast food fix.

In defense of relatively apathetic people decades ago, they could pretty much trust Walter Cronkite to give then the facts, scientists to provide accurate information and politicians to do a fair job of looking out for their best interests ,but that was before big money took over major media and started paying off scientists. 

Today, what was the conservative movement has been hijacked by big money interests who have created their own think tanks to pump out studies that promote their interests, have largely seized control of print and broadcast media and in doing so have not only reached the unwashed masses but have pretty much brainwashed them. Charismatic entertainers, starting with Ronald Reagan, have been hired to read carefully prepared scripts designed to convince the general public that the government is the problem and allowing big money interests to do as they please and get richer in the process is the answer to all problems. So profitable has this twist on George Orwell's "1984," the twist being that it is big money rather than a dictatorial government brainwashing the public, that their chief hired gun (Rush Limbaugh) has signed an 8-year, $400 million contract. Quite a difference between what Big Money can afford to pay to get their message across and Public Broadcasting having to beg for money to stay on air, primarily because big money has been successful in cutting of public funding for PBS, isn't it? 

Day after day right wing, big money financed, media pumps out the same basic message. Don't trust the government or each other and allow us to do whatever we want if you want to survive. Fight among yourselves and, most important of all, dismiss anyone who wants to protect your environment and civil rights as a charlatan. Ever try finding an alternative to right wing talk shows, other than Public Broadcasting that now leans to the right to avoid being charges with having a liberal bias in southwest Ohio? 

The intense round the clock brainwashing has worked so well that the paranoia and alternate reality that it created has become pervasive. People who believe Ronald Reagan, who more than doubled the national debt via voodoo economics and on whose watch 61,000 federal employees were added to government payroll, was a fiscal conservative while President Clinton, who submitted the only balance budgets in modern times and on whose watch the number of federal employees was cut, was a big government big spender are now taking to the streets demanding to be heard and defeating Republicans who still accept reality in primaries. People demanding a balanced federal budget while insisting on unlimited spending on the military and that Social security not be adjusted in order to remain viable are shouting down civil debate and electing people who are deceitful enough to go along with them, or themselves ignorant, to run the country. 

The original tea party members were libertarians who backed Ron Paul and whose main interest was in reining in government spending through such measures as closing overseas military bases, cutting defense spending and adjusting social programs in order to make them sustainable and I was all for the effort. Unfortunately the movement has been taken over by the Republican party whose pursuit of Reaganomics accrued two thirds of the national debt and whose last administration turned a surplus upon taking office into a back breaking deficit and it is now funded by big money interests that will profit by failure of government. Im sure that some of the original members are still in the movement but, judging from the signs and angry shouts, it is now dominated by a coalition of right wing wackos, bigots, racists, the paranoid and just angry clueless people. 

There was a time when people thought it was better to keep their mouths shut and be thought a fool than to open them and remove all doubt but the people who have hijacked the Tea Party movement flaunt their ignorance and seek out leaders who are as ignorant as they are or at least pretend to be. Intellectual giants such as William Buckley no longer inspire what was once truly a Grand Old Party. 

It is now led by good old, drop the "g" at the end of words, guys and gals who these ditto heads, Beckians, Palinites, Birthers and Tea baggers would like to have a beer with.

What kind of future does a country that puts people who believe that government is inherently bad in charge of government have to look forward to? If you want government to work, put people who believe that it can work in charge. If you want to ensure government failure put people who want it to fail in charge.

Sincerely,

Charles Leach

Lynchburg  

To the editor:

At the outset, I guess I should define prevalence for tea party types who hold up signs saying things such as, "Keep the government's hands off my Medicare."

Prevalence is an adjective defined as being widespread at a particular time as in the "social ills prevalent in society today."Getting that out of the way, I'll get to the crux of what I want to say.

Back when I leaned strongly Republican, intellectual giants such as William F. Buckley were the voices and inspiration of the party. They were intelligent, articulate and presented well-reasoned opinions, often using words I had to look up, and backed them up with cherry-picked but well-researched and inarguably correct information. Although they had a strong appeal to policy wonks such as me, to the average person on the street, who was more interested in who will win an upcoming game than in anything that might actually affect their lives, they were largely unknown. Back then, conservatism was unable to reach what author William Makepeace Thackeray called the "great unwashed" in "The History of Pendennis." That reference pretty much points out the difference between seekers of even boring truths and the majority of people who have little interest pursuing anything beyond their next fast food fix.

In defense of relatively apathetic people decades ago, they could pretty much trust Walter Cronkite to give then the facts, scientists to provide accurate information and politicians to do a fair job of looking out for their best interests ,but that was before big money took over major media and started paying off scientists. 

Today, what was the conservative movement has been hijacked by big money interests who have created their own think tanks to pump out studies that promote their interests, have largely seized control of print and broadcast media and in doing so have not only reached the unwashed masses but have pretty much brainwashed them. Charismatic entertainers, starting with Ronald Reagan, have been hired to read carefully prepared scripts designed to convince the general public that the government is the problem and allowing big money interests to do as they please and get richer in the process is the answer to all problems. So profitable has this twist on George Orwell's "1984," the twist being that it is big money rather than a dictatorial government brainwashing the public, that their chief hired gun (Rush Limbaugh) has signed an 8-year, $400 million contract. Quite a difference between what Big Money can afford to pay to get their message across and Public Broadcasting having to beg for money to stay on air, primarily because big money has been successful in cutting of public funding for PBS, isn't it? 

Day after day right wing, big money financed, media pumps out the same basic message. Don't trust the government or each other and allow us to do whatever we want if you want to survive. Fight among yourselves and, most important of all, dismiss anyone who wants to protect your environment and civil rights as a charlatan. Ever try finding an alternative to right wing talk shows, other than Public Broadcasting that now leans to the right to avoid being charges with having a liberal bias in southwest Ohio? 

The intense round the clock brainwashing has worked so well that the paranoia and alternate reality that it created has become pervasive. People who believe Ronald Reagan, who more than doubled the national debt via voodoo economics and on whose watch 61,000 federal employees were added to government payroll, was a fiscal conservative while President Clinton, who submitted the only balance budgets in modern times and on whose watch the number of federal employees was cut, was a big government big spender are now taking to the streets demanding to be heard and defeating Republicans who still accept reality in primaries. People demanding a balanced federal budget while insisting on unlimited spending on the military and that Social security not be adjusted in order to remain viable are shouting down civil debate and electing people who are deceitful enough to go along with them, or themselves ignorant, to run the country. 

The original tea party members were libertarians who backed Ron Paul and whose main interest was in reining in government spending through such measures as closing overseas military bases, cutting defense spending and adjusting social programs in order to make them sustainable and I was all for the effort. Unfortunately the movement has been taken over by the Republican party whose pursuit of Reaganomics accrued two thirds of the national debt and whose last administration turned a surplus upon taking office into a back breaking deficit and it is now funded by big money interests that will profit by failure of government. Im sure that some of the original members are still in the movement but, judging from the signs and angry shouts, it is now dominated by a coalition of right wing wackos, bigots, racists, the paranoid and just angry clueless people. 

There was a time when people thought it was better to keep their mouths shut and be thought a fool than to open them and remove all doubt but the people who have hijacked the Tea Party movement flaunt their ignorance and seek out leaders who are as ignorant as they are or at least pretend to be. Intellectual giants such as William Buckley no longer inspire what was once truly a Grand Old Party. 

It is now led by good old, drop the "g" at the end of words, guys and gals who these ditto heads, Beckians, Palinites, Birthers and Tea partiers would like to have a beer with.

What kind of future does a country that puts people who believe that government is inherently bad in charge of government have to look forward to? If you want government to work, put people who believe that it can work in charge. If you want to ensure government failure, put people who want it to fail in charge.

Sincerely,

Charles Leach

Lynchburg