Is America Stupid?: Legitimate Rape, an Illegitimate President, and the Politics of Nonsense

By Steve Freeman

Over the last few years the Founding Fathers have never before done as much rolling around in their graves as they currently must be doing. What is happening to America? Nothing in America is getting fixed, a former pizza executive who claimed he didn’t have to know much to be President was once considered having a chance to be President, the real President isn’t even legitimately the President, a former pastor turned Congressman thinks only some rapes count as real rapes, one candidate thinks if a rape victim becomes pregnant... it's God's gift. Maniacs can purchase six thousand rounds of ammunition and calmly go see a movie, politicians can say absolutely nothing and still get elected, foreign countries can funnel a bazillion dollars into our country and get elected who they want to be President. Oh, and Congress, even with a 12% approval rating, will still have only a tiny portion of its members lose their jobs. It’s a good thing that America has all these tv shows and social media to distract us from all that's going on.

Is America Stupid? tries to expose the nonsense that takes place in the giant circus arena that is American politics. The book takes a look at and tries to explain the narcissistic egos of many of the players- politicians and famous people- that we see and hear relentlessly giving their thoughts and opinions every day. The book takes a focused look into most of the major issues that Americans have tenaciously fought with each other over the last decade or so, and say what possibly hasn’t been said so far. It may be what many at home are thinking, but unfortunately not hearing it from their usual sources.

Everyone feels that part of America has gone nuts. However, everyone feels it’s those on the other side and not theirs. The problem facing America today is that most people arguing politics, their brains are filled with nothing but political sound bites. Americans are arguing with each other almost like never before and it’s just sound bite against sound bite... which gives all the power to where the sound bites come from. And one thing is for certain, where it comes from- those doing the delivering (the politicians, the media, talk show hosts and others) have way too much influence. Some of them are selfishly and irresponsibly playing with fire. They are out to earn a buck and create an army of people unable to think for themselves. And that can be scary for a country.

In 2000, America (actually, the Supreme Court) handed the country over to a former oil executive who still had strong ties to the petroleum industry. It was like handing the country over to Big Oil on a silver platter. And- surprise- look what happened... our economy ended up in a giant ditch and Big Oil went on to score record profits. Now, not having learned a lesson from that, America is considering handing the country over to a former Wall Street executive a mere four years after Wall St. royally, royally, royally screwed America. How is this possible? It’s almost like watching someone take a pitiful beating and then watching them go back for more. It scares the pants off some people. Are most American’s memories this short? Is America...?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Steve Freeman
• Release date: Oct 2, 2012
• ISBN: 9781301839230

Steve Freeman

Steve Freeman is not a journalist, nor a pundit, nor a political scientist, nor a Washington insider. So, he is free to say whatever he wants. No magazine or news station or University or political party can limit what he says. Plus, his work doesn’t read like an academic. Even though he has a B.A. in English, it takes him a decade to read any academia. He grew up in New York City, where he attended NYU. He moved to San Francisco like everyone used to do- after they read “On the Road.” He currently resides outside of Sacramento.

Book preview

Is America Stupid?

Legitimate Rape, an Illegitimate President,

and

The Politics of Nonsense

by

Steve Freeman

Copyright 2012 Steve Freeman

Smashwords Edition

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Electronic Adaptation by Stunning Books

CONTENTS

Preface

Introduction

1- The Political Party-Poopers

2- GW

3- Obama

4- War! Who Is It Good For? Absolutely Halliburton!

5- Religion

6- Race

7- Health Care

8- Abortion

9- The End of Sex

10- Taxes

11- Guns

12- Torture… So?

13- The Supreme-ly Pathetic Court

14- On Your Mark… Get Set… Steal!

15- The Media, or… Holy Fox!

16- The Limbaugh Phenomena

17- The Palin Phenomena

18- The Rest of Them Phenomena

19- The Comedy Club- Part I

20- The Comedy Club- Part II

21- Math

22- Conspiracy Theories and Flies

23- Solutions!

24- Exceptionalism?

Postscript

PREFACE

I hate doing this… I truly hate doing this, but I have to start this book off with a set of apologies. I don’t see any way around it. A lot of this book is about whether or not most Americans are stupid… and I don’t feel right about calling anyone stupid. I just don’t. Who am I to judge? Who is anybody to judge?

That’s weak. Extremely weak. Believe me, I know it. Truth is I am going to take the liberty of judging. Not always, just when it’s really hard not to. (There are always situations like that.) However, I am going to throw in one little caveat. Please, everyone, don’t go by what I say. Don’t let me influence you even in the slightest, most minute way.

I know. Weak again. Every writer is trying to influence the reader. To say that you’re not is a bunch of hooey. So, where does that leave me or any writer trying to make sense out of all the craziness that’s going on in America, especially political America. On the proverbial therapist’s couch! That’s where it leaves me. It’s where millions of us feel we should be- at least those of us who can’t believe how the last dozen or so years have gone down the way they have, and continues to do so- and therefore, it feels like it might be us that’s crazy. Therefore, I want to ask anyone reading this book, please, pretend you’re this book’s psychiatrist. This way I can’t get anything over on you.

*Not exactly true. Just look at everyone’s crazy sister or brother’s shrink, who actually believes it really is the fault of the rest of the family. (And these geniuses passed a test.)

Sorry. Got a little personal there. This shouldn’t be about the personal- which leads me to my next apology.

My next apology is… being the one to write this book. Truth is, millions of people could write this book if they, like me, found the time- in fact, made the time- to watch countless hours of news and commentary on television, listened to way too much talk radio, and who every day read the newspaper from front to back. Occasionally there was a magazine article or lecture thrown in. Quite often, an entertaining, sometimes hysterical, fake news broadcast. There were also a few documentaries that were pretty informative. There was a lot. Quite a lot. I didn’t miss much. In fact, I can’t wait to wean myself off this crap and check out some reality tv just to see what I’ve been missing these last few years. (I hear there’s this girl named, Snooki, and some guy named, The Situation(?) Or, is that not on anymore? Damn!)

My last apology is that I am going to be breaking at least one cardinal rule in this book. At times, as little as possible I hope, I’m going to repeat myself. And if you think that’s not okay, then you should never watch cable news or listen to talk radio. And when I say repeat I don’t mean stating something twice for emphasis. I mean you might see the same thoughts in one chapter that appeared in an earlier chapter. The reason for this- how do you separate the George Bush chapter from the chapter on religion? Or the Barack Obama chapter from the chapter on race. Or the Supreme Court chapter from the chapter on political parties. Or John Edwards from the Are You For Real? chapter. Or Joe Biden from the You Said Something Stupid Again? chapter. Or Sarah Palin from the chapter on "Body (Particularly Hand) Art." And the same with war, taxes, guns, abortion, etc. They are all intertwined. (Note: Some of these aren’t the real names of chapters.)

Finally, I’ve wanted to write this book for several years now. The urge really struck me, naturally, after America went to war over 9/11 with the country that wasn’t responsible for 9/11. Then, when Enron and other financial institutions proved to be frauds, as well as the infamous lobbyist connections, the urge really grew. And then, when the entire financial sector of America went bust (Oh my God, people were gaming the system?), I damn near burst. Then the Health Care Debate, the Town Halls, the Birthers, the Tea Party, the Gulf Oil Spill, the Debt Ceiling Debate, the 2012 Presidential Primary Debates (whoa, try replaying that!), Gun Control, the Environment, Class Warfare (are they kidding?)… even Torture and now, legitimate rape? Is America stupid?

I’m not saying. I’m just asking.

INTRODUCTION

Who says this? Who always makes this statement?

"The American people are a lot smarter than we give them credit for."

Politicians, of course. And then, once they get behind closed doors…

"These people are so stupid. We can tell them anything."

Are they right? Is America stupid?

Just because politicians are often considered successful- nice job- nice pay, really nice benefits- it doesn’t mean that they’ve keyed in to figuring this question out. And it’s not just limited to politicians. Hollywood does it (We can show them anything…). Talk radio people do it. Entertainers (talk radio people). Salespeople (again, talk radio). Con artists (talk radio). Advertisers. The news media. They all do it. In fact, they may not know how not to do it. Consider it a job requirement. After all, they’re out there to succeed, not fail- and this is the method they’ve chosen.

America is getting stupider by the minute. This isn’t a conclusion that America is stupid, but certainly it’s getting dumber with every breath it takes. Is it a runaway freight train of stupidity? Will the course right itself? Will the course ever reverse itself? Is American exceptionalism a thing of the past? Was American exceptionalism ever real or was it always just a state of mind?

Depending on the criteria… America has always been a country of Number Oneness. Highest standard of living, most technologically advanced, wealthiest, democratic, well-liked, integrated, welcoming, international, Hollywood, television, sports, top doctors (at least some), top food quality… I can go on and on. It’s always on our minds that no matter how bad things are, no matter how bad things may be going for us personally; at least we’re on the number one team. And you don’t become number one out of stupidity. But the question is, "Can you stop being number one… out of stupidity?"

Maybe that’s not the right question. Perhaps the right question is: Can you be stupid and also be number one?

These last few years have given us some pretty stupid things to think about. And stupid things in America go big. They go out to the rest of the world and get noticed. And get discussed. They’re going to be heavily discussed in this book. Without listing everything right here, right now, have you ever wondered what the rest of the world thinks when they see all the craziness that goes on in our country? After all, we pass a lot of judgments on them. What must they think when the world’s number one almost everything behaves the way we do?

There was that bold British headline back in 2004 the morning after we re-elected a President who may have lied us into a war:

"How can 59,054,087 people be so DUMB?"

That alone doesn’t mean that we’re stupid. The same headline would have been just as meaningful if the other guy (John Kerry) had won. He didn’t seem to be any great shakes either.

What makes a country stupid?

There is no doubt that there are some stupid people in America. There are stupid people in each and every country. The verdict of whether or not a country is stupid depends on a simple mathematical factor. America is only stupid if more than fifty percent of its people are stupid. America isn’t stupid if one infinitesimal point below fifty percent of its people are stupid. In that case, America is smart. At the end of this book we’re going to put all the information into a computer (a super-computer) and push a magic button and see what the tally is. If it’s a tie (chances of that are approximately one in one hundred and fifty million- and for you math geniuses out there, let’s not be picky), this will have been a colossal waste of everyone’s time.

(And for those who want to feel high and mighty and resent even the notion of anyone calling America stupid, come down off your phony high horse. Almost everyone has considered this question at one time or another. Republicans ask this question when the Democrats are in charge and the Democrats wonder the same thing when the Republicans are in charge. Independents think this way all the time.)

So, there’s your answer as to what makes a country stupid- anything over 50% of its people.

But who determines if people are stupid? A panel of judges? A priest? A minister? A rabbi? God? Elected officials? Talk show hosts? The pundits you see on tv? Your family? Your friends? Yourself? Your boss? Your elders? Dr. Phil?

It might not even really matter if America is stupid or not- especially if the majority of Americans are happier this way. Seriously, if the majority are happier, it’s a tough debate to decide if it really matters. It’s just that with the economy going bust, people losing their homes and livelihood, the planet’s land, air, and seas starting to go a little haywire, the terrorist thing, the fear of too much nuclear crap floating around out there- and therefore, a possible kaboom, or meltdown (see Japan)- and just a general overall incivility that’s in the air… Is Texas really going to secede? Because, you know, if they do, other states are going with them. See you Arizona. Been nice knowing you. Say hi to Mississippi and South Carolina. Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee… you’re going, too? Wait. Can’t we talk? It’s… it’s… it’s absolutely crazy out there. There is an un-civil war going on. America is losing, no matter what side you’re on. We know who and what is perpetuating this incivility, but we’re okay with it. Yes, strangely, we’re okay with it. Incumbents easily get re-elected. Voices who by and large gain from this calamity never seem to fade. The expression, A pox on both your houses! is as meaningless… no, it’s more meaningless than a SpongeBob episode. Politics has become a West Side Story without the romance. There’s so much dysfunction that America, also the world, no longer evolves along a learning curve, it’s a learning disability.

In Frank Capra’s great film, Lost Horizon (based on the book by British novelist James Hilton), the hero of the story, Robert Conrad, is summoned to meet the High Lama of the mythical city of Shangri-La. The High Lama is very old and he knows he is dying and he wants to pass the torch along to Conrad, a great visionary, just as his great vision founded and created this great utopia. He tries to sell the concept of Shangri-La to Conrad by comparing it to the outside world where there is war, greed, envy, bigotry, and sheer utter madness, whereas none of that can be found in Shangri-La, a magical place that is inspired by just two words, two powerful words: Be kind.

So, as American exceptionalism may be fading into the sunset, coincidentally, so is the concept of being kind disappearing into the darkness of the outside world that the High Lama was comparing to his Shangri-La. Civility is starting to seem impossible. While we don’t sit around and wait for a more perfect world, we have to wonder what it might be like if America ever decidedly becomes second rate- frozen in a stalemate of opposites. To many in the world, that’s already the case. Whether or not that’s true, you would think that Americans would like to hang on to its last vestiges of exceptionalism, if, at all, it still even exists. What might be causing its demise is politics. Even a utopia such as Shangri-La can have politics, but it would be different. The word, politics, like the word, love, would have to have several more meanings. Today’s meanings are not enough and not very good. The ugly side of politics is what always seems to win out.

Since this is a book mainly about politics, all the ins and outs of what goes into and what comes out of this arena, we’re going to separate the two critical sides that gives it all meaning- the politicians and the rest of us. In fact, we’ll be shining some bright headlights on the worst aspects of both sides. For politicians, it’s hypocrisy and lying. For the rest of us, it’s stupidity.

And although hypocrisy is a popular item in today’s world of high exposure, it’s a word that you will not see too often in this book. The reason being, it is way too light a word for some of the people who will be mentioned in this book. There needs to be a stronger word that encompasses the meaning, plus adds more spice or penalty to it. The media uses hypocrite far too often and far too soft. It dares not call the most egregious liars, a liar. The harshest that’s usually heard is that he or she … may be somewhat hypocritical about this. Perhaps it’s for legal reasons, but it doesn’t help Americans get to the truth.

The problem is that many of the people we see and hear giving their thoughts and opinions all the time do not believe a word of what they are saying. Or they believe only part of what they say, and that spells their conscience. Many are told what to say. Others aren’t told what to say, but easily figure out what to say that will help them get ahead. Then, naturally, some very naïve people believe that is what the speaker actually believes and they get locked, seriously locked, into stupidity.

All of this has become matter of fact and accepted by the rest of us, even though it’s actually unacceptable and extremely unfulfilling to us. All Americans, it seems, want to scream, for some reason or another. And while most screams would probably sound the same, some could possibly sound different. The scream this book would have, if it could, would be for something maybe only imagined- honest, fair, intelligent thought. While this book doesn’t claim to have that, it wants to leave open the possibility of some wishful thinking.

The bottom line is that many politicians would never pray for intelligent thought. Not if it meant the end to their success and power. And to say that it’s up to us to change that- no matter how true and simple it sounds- is not a satisfying answer. We might first have to rip the masks off all these faux players (the politicians) and do whatever it is you have to do to a confused, oblivious and disengaged electorate (the American people) to get them thinking again.

Is that even possible? We better hope so.

1

THE POLITICAL PARTY-POOPERS

Let’s begin with this:

"The wackos get their information through the Christian right, Christian radio, mail, the internet and telephone trees… Simply put, we want to bring out the wackos to vote against something and make sure the rest of the public lets the whole thing slip past them."

That’s it. Good night. Drive home safely. That’s all there is. That’s all you need to know… It’s all summed up, right here, in this one memo!

Who wrote this memo?

His name is Mike Scanlon.

Who is Mike Scanlon?

Mike Scanlon is, or was, a Republican operative. Officially, he was labeled a lobbyist. His more well-known partner was Jack Abramoff, who, after wheeling and dealing his way to a prison sentence in 2006, served his time and then took his newly reformed talents to work at a Kosher Pizzeria in Baltimore. Maybe that’s where the money is buried. In all that dough! (I know, bad joke.)

These two partners, Abramoff being the more famous and high-profile of the two, were not simply just lobbyists. There is a very small, and in many cases, absolutely no difference between lobbyists, elected officials, staff, pundits, consultants and operatives. In fact, very often elected officials are lobbying for lobbyists. You can just imagine how that goes.

Scanlon and Abramoff were very well connected and very much in with several powerful Republican leaders, including the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tom Delay, and also the Christian Conservative stalwart, turned pundit, turned lobbyist, turned businessman- former Enron consultant, Ralph Reed. In short, they’re all operatives. And they had hundreds of emails, memos and conversations like this going back and forth between them on a regular basis.

So, what were your real feelings about your fellow Republicans, Mr. Scanlon?

Now, one memo does not make a definitive statement about Republicans or Conservatives. All this memo does is simply state what every non-Republican has suspected over the recent years- that the Republican leaders are full of crap and have nothing but contempt and cynicism for their members. And furthermore, how they are in heaven over how simple and easy it is to control them.

Let’s stop here for a second. Even though we’re just starting out, we have to pause briefly and address this whole Republican, Conservative, Democrat, Liberal, Independent, Tea Party thing. (It might be a little boring- like Politics 101- but every so often it gets all mucked up and has to be explained from scratch again. Unfortunately, we’re living in one of those times.)

Here’s what we got here: You have your Republican Party- it’s made up of mostly Conservatives. Some of them are extremely conservative, some are medium and some are light. Then you have to differentiate between social conservative and fiscal conservative. Once again- extreme, medium and light. (I know, sounds like a hot sauce.) Then you have your Democratic Party- it’s made up of mostly Liberals. Once again- extreme, medium and light. Once again- social and fiscal. Then you have the Tea Party- which is not really a party. What is the Tea Party? The Tea Party is nothing more than the radical wing of the Republican Party. What’s the difference between hearing that the far right wing of the Republican Party thinks this or the Tea Party thinks the same this? A costume change? One has tea bags stapled to their heads? It’s the same thing! And watching CNN and hearing veteran reporter, Gloria Borger, while covering a Tea Party rally, say that the Tea Party members are neither Republicans nor Democrats makes you want to bang your head against a wall. They’re Republicans, Gloria. Republicans.

(In the 2010 elections, all Tea Party candidates ran as Republicans. It may one day be construed as its own separate political party, but for the time being and perhaps always, it is orchestrated and run by Republicans. There’s no difference between the Tea Party and Far Right Republicans. It’s almost like saying that Dominos and Pizza Hut don’t feature the same product.)

Last, you have your Independents. There is this new phenomena of more and more people calling themselves Independents. Republicans are doing this and so are Democrats. It’s a shame, because it waters down what a true Independent is. For some who are doing this, it’s a way of showing themselves as independent thinkers and also too wise, or at least not stupid enough, to be in either party. For others, though, it’s a way of tricking the argument by saying that you’re not a Republican or Democrat (even though you really are) and that your thoughts and opinions are being given objectively (even though they’re really not). There are solid members of both parties who do this. Some even call up talk radio shows all day long pretending: I’m an independent (or Democrat), but I entirely agree with everything this Republican candidate says. Or, Mr. Liberal Radio guy, I’m an independent (or Republican), but you really tell it like it is. Give us a break! Those who play this game should be ordered to perform six months of community service and not allowed ice cream for a whole year. (Come on, at least play the game fair!)

Back to the Scanlon memo…

Things have changed since this memo was written. The crazies, or wackos, are big players now. And even though it’s most likely never going to happen, the crazies now want to control the ones who used to control them. It may look at times like the Tea Party is effective and calling the shots, but rest assured, it’s nothing but smoke. In fact, get used to hearing that the Tea Party is issuing an ultimatum to the Republican Party or that the Republican Party better listen to the Tea Party… Once again, what’s the difference of hearing the same thing from the radical wing of the Republican Party? No matter what, none of these extremists will ever drop out and go with the Democrats. Nor will they ever refuse to vote against them.

So, while Scanlon’s memo may have been eye opening to some, in that the public could get a hold of such a behind-the-scenes statement, for many, it was no big Wow! It just didn’t have the ability to make a complete and definitive statement- make people jump up and go, Ah hah! about the true essence of the Republican Party. Perhaps a single memo doesn’t have the power to do that. However… television and radio does! And that’s what happened in the summer of 2009. It was crazy. Plain and simple crazy! The summer of 2009 showed that screaming and making no sense is just as a part of America’s giddy-up as Americans like to think only takes place in the British Parliament or in Arab-Israeli peace discussions or on the The Jerry Springer Show.

Before going there, though (back to 2009), we have to first go back a little further... to right after the 2008 election when the Republicans took a major, major drubbing at the hands of the Democrats. This was a huge defeat. Democrats took over both Houses of Congress by large amounts, as well as the Presidency. Afterwards, there was a giant void in the Republican Party. Who was their leader? Many wondered if the party was still even relevant. In fact, the void was so big and so obvious that talk radio host, Rush Limbaugh, walked right through it (this isn’t meant to be a joke as to how wide it was) and became the de facto leader of the Party. (Some felt it was legit and some felt it was self-imagined by Limbaugh and his followers.) Also during this time, this is when the Tea Party really began to grow in numbers. Its rise had nothing to do with the huge gaping void. The rise of the Tea Party had to do with your typical brilliant strategy, done, of course, by… professional brilliant strategists. (Plus, having a unique, different sort of President didn’t hurt.) You can easily say that had there been professional strategists on the other side with as much skill and determination, the Tea Party would still be 10 crazy people.*

*This is an exaggeration, of course,