I heard Keith Olbermann give the best take I’ve heard so far on the nutty protesters we’re seeing lately at these town hall meetings. He said, “It’s stupid people scaring stupid people.” Brilliant! I mention this quote because it relates directly to this famous H. L. Mencken quote.
“As democracy is perfected, the office of President represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last, and the White house will be adorned by a downright moron.” H. L. Mencken (1880 – 1956)
That day came when George W. Bush was sworn into office. Whereas we have a representative government and a democracy that’s as perfect as it’s ever been, it follows that George W. Bush’s ignorance and stupidity were a direct reflection of the ignorance and stupidity of the people who elected him, the people whose ideals and values he embodies.
Bush is gone, but those same stupid people who put him in the White House not once but twice, are still among us. They are the ones scaring each other with lies and predictions of doom.
I refer to the tea-baggers, birthers, deathers, secessionists, plug-pullers, death panelists, socialist-phobes and Nazi noisemakers. They are, to use President Obama’s phrase, displaying “stupid behavior”. It is their inability to see, to fully comprehend the serious negative consequences of what they are doing that marks them as people behaving stupidly.
Worst of all, it’s just like Barney Frank said in one of his recent town hall meetings. Trying to reason with these people is like “talking to my dining room table.” It’s true! He’s right!
But then, what else can you expect from a society that does not adequately value, support and fund education? You’re bound to end up with a lot of stupid people scaring other stupid people, the kind of people who would elect and re-elect a “downright moron” to the highest office in the land. Pogo nailed it when he said, “We have met the enemy and they are us.”