Is there a political weariness in America?

On blogs, on Twitter, on cable news, it appears that pundits and politicians and experts are all going through the motions discussing the political divide and the seemingly intractable problems facing America. Everyone appears tired. Almost all areas of our lives have been politicized. Al Gore has even said we have no choice, that genetically we are Progressives or Conservatives, political robots following our built in programs.

Polls show that Americans are cynical regarding Congress and government's ability to do anything positive. I hear people say that nothing in DC ever changes. What's the use, right? This is a dangerous mindset if it is widespread. When Americans get to the point they think nothing can be done, and when  political players aren't even thinking about their roles, just going through the motions, we become a spiritless, dying nation. Surely I'm overstating the case. Surely we'll all push back and get this big private sector economy moving again so that people are moving toward prosperity and pursuit of happiness, not just drowning their minds in the constant buzz of pop culture. Surely we won't allow government to beat us down until we're lifeless. Yes, I'm overstating the problem. I have to be overstating the problem.

Political automatons

A disconcerting transition has happened starting from the iconoclastic, anti-authoritarian, spirited rabble rousing of the sixties to the present political culture which appears drained of creativity and free-thinking. The most disconcerting change is among young, college-educated, quasi-intellectuals and their unqualified acceptance of authority if the authority emanates from a politically correct source. Group-think has regimented political discourse and pacified what was once vital, edgy and visionary. In technology, young people are on the cutting edge, and creativty is evident, but politically they've been indoctrinated to a modern liberal anti-ideology ideology which is frightening at times, especially as I read the comment sections on group blogs or watch media upstarts like Chris Hayes or young pundits like Ezra Klein. Even the way they pronounce their words is eerily homogeneous.

It's as if a part of the young mind which is political has been programmed to run off of the same software, with automatic positions which are impervious to conflicting information, deleting all information tagged "right". It's as if the software is written to receive certain input on political issues that result in a group position purged of unapproved political ideas -- like the idea of taxing the rich because the rich aren't paying their "fair share". The software blocks all incoming information related to out-of-control government spending and free market economic principles, so that the group position ignores all information except the rich have created much wealth and they must pay more. How much more and why, and where does it end? What are the consequences of higher taxes on wealth producers? The software doesn't compute.

And with stimulus, the same group-think developes -- stimulus is necessary in a recession, they all agree, and when you query the system it provides no good information regarding the danger of misdirection of capital, or how short term tactics fail to motivate long term investment such as expansion and hiring. The software merely repeats in a loop stating over and over -- when the private sector fails to provide jobs, government must step in -- but there's never good information regarding the cause of high unemployment or the role played by prior government intervention.

It's not just young people, and it's not just on the Left. The Republican candidates in the lead, Romney and Perry, are good examples of how our political system produces political robots. Watching Perry and Romney in last night's debate, it looks like they're programed by their handlers and the results of a dozen polls. Where is the spirit, the sense of urgency, the realization that these times demand someone with a deep understanding and the ability to communicate our dilemma? What we get is manufactured attacks with pre-programmed zingers designed to capture headlines. The political realm is becoming more mechanical and predictable, progammed and designed to follow poll results and avoid mistakes -- there's no creative, spirited spontaneity, no depth of emotion which effectively communicates deeper thoughts that inspire and challenge the imagination. Some might start their campaigns with fire and big ideas, but the media and political operatives shepherd them to the middle into the status quo fence -- little by little you see emptiness in their eyes as the fire is doused by researched moderation and political strategy, and you hear the mechanical words go clank, clank, clank.

The political realm is killing the American spirit and producing political automatons programmed to push the designers' agenda -- politics for power. Where are the free-thinkers, the political innovators, the creative intellects who help put the chaos into a unique perspective which speaks to a greater reality? Destroy the enemy, destroy the enemy, then march to the center, clank, clank, clank.

Perhaps Ron Paul can win, afterall

http://reason.com/blog/2011/08/22/oh-hey-look-ron-paul-down-just

In the Gallup poll shown by Reason Online, Paul is only 2 points behind Obama. According to this, Paul should be a top-tier candidate right up there with Romney. As I've written before, 2012 is the year pundits will do much worse in their predictions than their bad predictions in previous elections.

Glenn Beck 4/11/2011 -- Goodbye and Hello

Beck's exit from Fox is timely for someone who understands creativity, growth and innovation. A permanet position at Fox produces Shephard Smith -- a creative person like Beck must go to the next thing. I've enjoyed watching his Fox show, and for those who've said Beck's success is due to Murdoch's power, well, none of these petty critics could produce a 10th of the creativity and energy that Beck created 5 times a week, on top of doing a funny and informative radio show for three hours. I don't know how he did it.

Now Beck can focus his energies on informing a young audience through the internet. Young people in America are over-loaded with re-hashed leftism from public school through media through college and through the music industry. Young people get their news from Jon Stewart, a sharp and snarky light-weight thinker who prefers sarcasm and easy targets to critical thinking and bold creative ideas.

I have my disagreements with Beck, but it's odd that saying this is even necessary -- the Left pillories anyone who even slightly acknowledges the value of something Beck might say, yet they are constantly promoting an open-minded, no-labels approach to thinkers and ideas, so that certain thinkers aren't dismissed because of ideological closedness.

The media and the Left have been hysterically closeminded when it comes to Beck, yet Beck has handled this biased, ignorant and vicious attack with good humor and courageous gusto. Give me Beck anytime over the potted plant journalists, yacking pundits and prissy intellectuals who wouldn't know honest creativity if it bit them on the arse.

See ya in cyberspace, Beck.

Serious assessment -- Marco Rubio and other stuff

I consider myself a good judge of character, although I've made mistakes in judgement before. From what I've seen and heard from Marco Rubio, he's the real deal. I'm sure I won't agree with all his positions, but I believe he's an honest, good person, and his ideas regarding limited government are a breath of fresh air. Rubio is a serious person - an adult.

I'm sickened by what I see on tv, in blogs, within government, in newspapers, magazines and from political speeches. The political game is old, trite and pathetic. The pundits play a game of contrast with the party lines, and there's always the wink and nod air about it all which sends the message that it's only about who pays them to spout nonsense -- nothing original, nothing objective, nothing independent. The old media is biased and they go along slogging for their party -- predictable, silly and dishonest.

I read blogs where political issues are discussed with cool aloofness, more concerned with the intellectual thickness of the prose than with clarity and sincerity.

We're reaching a point where the political game is a ridiculous sideshow, and those of us who live daily with the ups and downs of an economy being ravaged by goverment intervention are not amused. I have friends who depend on the stability of the rules -- people with a large stake to protect, for their families and the families of their employees - there are people like this all over the country, employs and employees who only want to be left alone to do their work and do it well. The government is playing games with people's lives and the political class talk about it all as if the most important matter to consider is the balance of Obama's political capital or if the Republicans will gain seats in 2010 -- those are worthy topics, but there's much more to consider outside the political game.

This disgust with the political class is growing across the country, and those the pundits like to make fun of are going to push back. The political class has no idea who these people are -- they are a powerful, diverse lot, not the ignorant, angry mob depicted by the media. They're not so much angry as disgusted and motivated to stop the nonsense -- they are not a mob, but, rather, a huge number of individuals sick of collective thought, patronizing bullshit and nannyism. It's time for serious adults to step forward, and they are stepping forward -- they are saying "No more!".

Enough is enough, and if we've created a silly, irresponsible government, then it's time to change it. It's time to stop being defined by immature, no-nothing wannabes who've never produced anything in their lives but sarcasm and deceit. They are not important despite their self-images as shakers and movers. They are moochers who add nothing to the national conversation -- they don't solve problems, they only spin and prostitute themselves for recognition. They are all part of the State machine which has grown too big and needs to be cut down to size.

I'm not blanketing all the playes in the political class, but it's become apparent that too many of these clowns have infiltrated the media and the government while eveyone else was making things work, producing and creating new things. The most frightening aspect is that many of the absurd clowns have power.

I may be wrong about Rubio's character, and he may implode in a sex scandal of ten women, a priest and a goat, but I won't miss a stride, because as he said in an interview today -- it's not about him, it's about the message. The message is that America is awake and we're cleaning house. Now, that's clear.