Idiocracy
Have too many Americans become gullible, ill-informed idiots who have elevated feelings over facts and replaced critical thinking with a blind sense of trust for authority? I'm not trying to be insulting here; I'm just trying to figure out Rudy Giuliani's poll numbers.
Four years ago Tucker Carlson asked Britney Spears on CNN, "A lot of entertainers have come out against the war in Iraq. Have you?" And Britney, who was chewing gum throughout the entire interview, answered, "Honestly, I think we should just trust our president in every decision he makes and should just support that, you know, and be faithful in what happens."
It's this kind of head-in-the-sand, free rein granted to those believed to be in a position of moral authority that has led to warrantless wiretapping, torture, and a $6.1 million judgment for a Kentucky McDonald's employee named Louise Ogborn. In 2004, Louise was 18 and working at McDonald's when her assistant manager Donna called her into the back office, said a police officer on the phone had identified her as a thief, and then forced Louise, under the "cop's" orders, to strip naked, do nude jumping jacks, submit to a spanking and finally perform oral sex on Donna's 43-year-old exterminator fiancé. The whole ordeal, ordered by a prankster over the phone, lasted three hours. But you know what they say about fast-food work -- the time flies when you're busy.
A Kentucky jury listened to testimony, watched a videotape of the entire incident and awarded Louise $6.1 million dollars from the obviously culpable party in this matter -- the McDonald's Corporation. That's right, two adults pressure a third adult into stripping, a spanking and a blowjob based on the word of a stranger on the phone and the fault lies not with the gullible idiots who blindly obeyed some perceived voice of authority, but with the company that happens to have its name on the sign out front. McDonald's has a written policy in their training manual against any type of strip searches and even sent out a voicemail warning franchises about such phone hoaxes but the jury found that the company was liable because, after all, the perv on the phone did say he was a cop and what choice did Donna the assistant manager have but to, as Britney says, "just support that, you know, and be faithful in what happens"?
Bill Maher is the host of HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher" which airs every Friday at 11PM.
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Americans indeed are idiots, to be bogged down in an absurdly foolish war in Iraq, and yet support a greater fool who wants to enlarge the war!
Giuliani told some people in Kirkland recently that his definition of success in Iraq is when that country can in effect join with the US and Israel in confronting Iran! He also wants Israel to join NATO. Giuliani is a stooge in the hands of the neocons who brought this country a vicious war as part of a scheme to enable Israel to keep most of the illegal settlements in the West Bank.
We all know the answer to this question is "yes".
The larger issue, the question that needs to be asked then is:
Why is it happening and what can we do to change it?
Bill I loved the new rules teleprompter flub. It seems that you and Bush finally DO have something in common.
Oh, come on, I kid Bill Maher with love!
LOL
The whole country is in a vacuum.
TV caters to the mindless.
Two guys bashing each other with fists, boots, and heads, is considered entertainment.
Lip-sticked blondes with dabs of swim suits, and their wannabees, struggle to find words to turn 60 minutes into a show.
Bush gets videotaped every time he steps off his chopper in the Rose garden. Royalty doesn't get as much attention.
Couples grunt and groan about their spouses as a muscle head threatens to beat up the male.
Jerry Springer drags people onto a warehouse stage to let them howl about Joyce or John whilst flipping their skirts, shimmying a stripper's pole, or, baring their breasts.
Ann Coulter, O'Reilly, Hannity, and gang, delight in whamming anyone who disagrees with their New World Order. At least, anyone who can a word in edgewise. Otherwise, shut up and listen.
Violent crime has risen to its highest level in the past two years.
Video Games are blamed by one young kid facing the rest of this life and the next in prison.
Hardly anyone pays any attention to the fact that American troops are getting killed or having their brains ruined every day in the Middle East.
Seems like there are a few million Britney Spears running around with the same idea.
Sit back, relax, and don;t worry about it. It might go away.
even if it doesn't go away, they don't know or care that it happened.
What are we gonna do, Water Rat? I protest in every way I can. Every day. Are you?
As much as we might not want to admit it, people can be brainwashed. There are millions of people that exclusively watch Fox News and listen to Limbaugh and other hate radio outlets. Garbage in, garbage out. Unfortunately, with a media that is more concerned with making a profit than it is in providing real journalism and truth, there will be millions more who join the growing ranks of the uninformed and the brainwashed.
If only Naomi Klein's new book "The Shock Doctrine" were to become chic and a best-seller!
Danny, that would be the ticket. Maybe she shold turn it into a youtube, and it would get the attention it should.
10/14/07
12:25pm
Burlington Library
I don't think "we the people" are aware of our rights under the Constitution. Maybe we need some public service announcements explainng the Bill of Rights and the Constitution.
It is the Constitution that we are all sworn to protect and defend. Even the President can be prosecuted for violating the law and the Constitution.
Actually,"we the people", aren't aware of our responsibility to educate ourselves as an "enlightened and educated citizenry" as Jefferson suggested.
How can you be committed to democratic principles if you don't know what they are? Our media could help in this action if they choose but their too busy telling us about Brittany's latest idiotic folly. I guess it sells ratings but it contributes to the decay of our country.
If you feed the people pablum then they will forget how to "chew" on the complex problems that our country faces.
I believe the media started to decay under Reagan when they no longer had to offer real "fair and balanced" coverage of the news. Spin and misinformation failed to be challenged and people became less informed.
Quite true, but that would require growing big brass ones and the willingness to fight for our future and what' right.
We are gullible. As liberal as I may be in some areas, here's what I've noticed.
Bush goes to war for WMDs and the media gives him a pass.
Gore says 2006 and 2007 will be devastating hurricane seasons, and we have ZERO hurricanes. The media gives him a pass also.
We'll believe anything.
what world have you been in?
Apparently to some people, it is only when a hurricane destroys an entire city is it a "devestating" event. I suppose this is great solace to any in 2006 and 2007 who died in hurricanes.
The answer to your question about why people listen blindly to authority stems from the dramatic loss of purchasing power by the middle class. According to clear thinkers like Eric Hoffer ("The True Believer") -- when people lose their self respect (by losing financial control in this case) they turn to someone or some thing outside themselves to latch onto. That person need not be rational but must project a macho image and be perfectly consistent (egs. Mussolini, Hitler, Stalin, Bush etc.) Clearly Karl Rove learned this lesson well and applied it to win the elections of 2000 and 2008. Too bad he divided and destroyed our country in the process.
Actually, this case of the McDonald's employee could supply us with an analogy of why Hillary Clinton, among others, voted to pass off their constitutional powers to declare war off to George fucking Bush. He was the voice on the phone, congress was the teenage girl, the manager was the media, and the guy getting the blow job? Halliburton, Exxon, and all the rest. Can we impeach now, please?
Brilliant analogy. Bill?
Remember Bill, electrolytes - its what the body CRAVES!
ELECTROLYTES - it's what plant's CRAVE!
Well, yes, Bill.
Bill ,, Guess what something is happening to our people ,, and it ain't good. They have lost their will. Somebody or something has taken it. And it is too late to save them.
This Administration -the“R”s (and I don’t mean Republicans) are trying to destroy our (human) way of life
“I seem to be living in a nation that simply does not know what freedom is.”
John Whiteside Parsons
truthseeke
Dead on mike.
It is unfair to blame the whole country because of that stupid girl at McDonalds. And Britney Spear is, well, Britney Spear. Every generation has the Britneys. While people are buying up Ann Coulter books and listening intensely to Rush, many us do watch TV (including your show), read papers, and THINK.
I did not support Bush in 2000 or 2004. My reason. I thought he lacked intellectual and leadership ability. Being Jewish and a Democrat, I believed his religious extremism and Conservative views were wrong. Having said this, I never would have dreamed he would be as horrible as he is. And further, I totally bought into the idea of a War in Iraq. Yes, I admit it. I read, I think, I'm a College graduate, and have even taught, and I believed that Sadam had weapons of Mass Destruction. Colin Powell said it. The President (who I believed had secret info that I did not have) said it. I was scared as I believed Sadam was ready to blow up Israel and everyone else. Yes, I was wrong. And I do believe I am intellectually superior to Britney, or I thought I was. So we are all vulnerable. The good news is that the group of us who do THINK can only get fooled once on the same subject. Hopefully.
I want to go on record as saying that I never believed any of it.
How about Hilary Clinton being fooled again? She just voted to designate the Iranian Revolutionary Guard a 'terrorist organization'. This vote gave more power to George Bush to continue his march toward attacking Iran. Anyone who votes to give more power to Bush,AGAIN, to say nothing of the first time,does not deserve to be our next president. I am assuming that this is a political maneuver, so should she be the nominee in the national election, she will look strong against terror. In the meantime she risks involving us in another war for her own political gain. Looking at the polls, I have to agree with Bill Maher. WE are idiots!
gobble,
good post. Vote Democat.
Moral of the story: Don't take Mc-orders over the phone.
Having turned off HBO months ago I was unaware of your Sept 13 New Rules comment about 9/11. For those who also missed it here it is..
"Crazy people who still think the government brought down the twin towers in a controlled explosion, have to stop pretending that I’m the one who is being naïve. How big a lunatic do you have to be to watch two giant airliners packed with jet fuel, slam into buildings on live TV, igniting a massive inferno that burned for two hours, and then think “well if you believe that was the cause?” Stop asking me to raise this ridiculous topic on the show, and start asking your doctor if Paxcel is right for you."
Ok yes I will stop asking you to raise this ridiculous topic. I will go to my doctor and see what drugs I can get that will make me forget Bush's news conference last year where he tried to blame KSM for SETTING EXPLOSIVES in the towers. Because your prestiogious NOVA totally proved the pancake theory (there were no outside gurders attached right?). Maybe I can forget the molten metal still there weeks after Rudy had all the recyclables (some call it evidence) shipped to Asia. Maybe I can forget how the military changed the story about how they "just missed" the highjacked planes. Maybe I can forget everything Dr. David Ray Griffin so eloquently discribed YEARS ago. And maybe I can forget how I used to look forward to your shows. Because you feel the need to denounce the real Americans not afraid to do the research. Who is the IDIOT now?
"Who is the IDIOT now?"
Yeah, that'd still not be Bill Maher...
Seriously? I can just envision you turning red in front of your computer as your fingers furiously mash the keys on the keyboard..
I wouldn't necessarily worry about Paxil...bu
loslobo,
We are where we are. Lets change it all and vote. Goddbye GOP.
We saw it so that's exactly what happened, of course we're crazy to think otherwise because our wonderful govt would never do such a thing. We are a people so loved by our govt that our interests and well being are always the priority we should only look to the last eight years as evidence because as we have been told "seeing is believing".
I freed 100s of slaves; I would've freed 100s more had they know they were slaves - Harriet Tubman
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