Clowns to the Right of Me

In recent years, a tactic of the Right, promoted by Murdoch and his clones, has been to decry the role of the elites in government. The last thing you want in government, according to this view, is anyone with intelligence, education, knowledge, experience, or wisdom, because such attributes make you out of touch with the common man and woman. They, as represented by Joe Plumber and Sarah Moosekiller, proudly know nothing, but know what they don't like. The less they know, the closer they are to the average citizen, and therefore the more fit they are to govern in this topsy turvy Roveworld. The last thing we want in the complex and challenging 21st century is a Meritocracy. Instead, we see a race to the bottom of a bottomless pit in which the winners are those who are more ignorant (and holier) than thou.

And the results of this massive experiment in social and political engineering are in. The evidence to be found in the gun-toting attendees at American Town Hall meetings on Health Care, and the
global warming denialism in Australian media. We are governed almost everywhere now not by meritocracy but by idiocracy.

But the Watermelon Blog remains, proudly, meritorious.

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Comments

[WilliamBradford]

The hypocrisy of the left has become clear (as it always eventually does).

You decry people of faith and complain that the bible-thumpers on the right think they know the truth. You are especially offended by their hope to be "holy".

But the core of your self-defined identity is: "we know better than you". This is the attitude that permeates our democratic politicians today - led by the greatest sage of all. We will lead you and you will follow because we are the way, and the truth, and the light.

You worship science - which is a process, not a conclusion. You worship the litany of liberal causes - without any critical thinking about the results they have inflicted on our society. And ultimately, you worship yourselves - warmed by the glow of your imagined superiority of "regular" people.

The invconvenient truth of the moment is that so many of you have been so wrong about so much. The prescriptions you have written have not made anything better. The predictions you make aren't very accurate. When you are given responsibility, you put Nancy Pelosi in charge. Now that's idiocracy.

[JohnFromCensornati]

Just in case anybody was wondering, WilliamBradford is speaking in tongues, so I'll translate from Je$u$ freak speak to English for you.
"Give all your money and possessions to the sick and the poor."

[WilliamBradford]

My point was that the author seems incensed because those like him - who he believes would triumph and lead in a "meritocracy" if it weren't for all the ignorant people. The problem with this is that he wants to define intelligence; it means you have to be a liberal.

We've had plenty of human endeavors run by people who think they "deserve" to lead and whose first goal is to destroy those who don't follow their party line. That hasn't gone very well.

I don't think religion has any place in this discussion, that's why I am appalled at the blind faith that liberals have in their causes and their leaders.

As for your "translation", I don't know where that came from. I do believe that it is a human virtue to care about the people around you and give to them from whatever resources you have. I don't believe, as the modern liberal does, that this function should be accomplished through the force of government.

[wondering]

To paraphrase :

And the core of the right's self-identity is: "We're idiots but we don't care because we shout loud and carry guns."

The inconvenient truth of the moment is that so many of you have had no idea what's right or wrong for so long. The prescriptions you have written are filled by Big Pharma. The confessions from the people you torture are not very accurate. When you are given responsibility, you put Karl Rove and Dick Cheney in charge. Now that's evil.
.

[Hawkman4]

Wrap it in a cross and a flag, take out the logic, and Murkuns will eat it up.

[JohnFromCensornati]

I thought they were jokers.

[mommadona]

Can we address the idiotic experiment of "homeschooling" now?

Whole generation out there who thinks some old white guy sits onna throne in the sky and who poofed the world into being about 6000 yrs ago.....sriously.

"Shade of Harry Potter" (!)

I do NOT believe in "faith-based" educational models