General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: The used car salesman strikes again [View all]LittleBlue
(10,362 posts)The kinds of comments are what fuels libertarianism. People see hypocrisy, absolutely naked truth-twisting for blatant self-interest and say "You know what? Fuck it". After all, everything in politics is a lie. You see the president up there saying something that he can't possibly believe, that no thinking person can possibly believe, so a voter can never be sure what they're voting for. The "fuck it" attitude fuels anti-government sentiment, and a portion of those get wrapped up into the Tea Party, the Ron Paulites and all the other destructive political attitudes. The rest don't vote and don't care because they figure it doesn't matter who gets elected. Every politician is out for himself after all, so why should voters care?
Then when progressives try to convince them of absolutely critical things like a public option, abortion rights or climate change, the attitude is the same: the government is the enemy and "fuck it".
This apathy causes irreparable harm to our nation. And the president's comments fuel that apathy. Why even make these comments? These words are fooling no one who isn't already a fool. It's just one more nail in the coffin of meaningful political participation. The sad thing is, if we just stayed true to our values we'd have 70% of Americans on our side. We win on issues. Period. It's the "business as usual" shit that kills us.