2009's Idiots of the Year!

The end of the year brings us all sorts of fun “best of” lists and annual “awards”. We have “The Best Films of 2009”, “The Worst Films of 2009”, “The Most Intriguing People”, the “Sexiest” and “Worst Dressed”. Time magazine puts out their “Person of the Year” issue every December.

I propose a new one. I’ll simply call it the “Idiot of the Year.”

There were a lot of worthy candidates in 2009.

I do not bestow such honors lightly, so allow me to explain my thought process. Let’s start with another group’s award; the “Lie of the Year.” Of course, despite the fact that the current administration told the public, with a straight face, that the $800 Billion stimulus package would keep unemployment under 8%, the sages of the media bestowed this honor on Sarah Palin. Her “death panels” blog was deemed the “lie of the year” by some obscure website and then parroted by “legitimate,” “professional” and “unbiased” news sources like MSNBC and Newsweek.

I have to wonder, would mental titans like Norah O’Donnell and David Shuster refer to Irish satirist Jonathan Swift as a “cannibal advocate”? Or, do they actually comprehend the literary device known as a “metaphor”? You know, the thing we learned about in eighth grade.

No, Virginia, I am sure that there is no sub-section of the health care bill that outlines the rights and responsibilities of the “death panel.” So, in some twisted, lawyerly, anti-intellectual sense, Sarah Palin could be called a “liar” for saying that it’s actually there. I would be more comfortable in making that assessment if I could actually read the bill, or if the people voting for it could actually read it, but that’s a different story.

Sarah Palin’s real award should be the “metaphor of the year.” Like Jonathan Swift, she used a literary device to put a larger, more complex issue into perspective. She did a great service to our society by simplifying the complex notion of government controlled health care and the eventual, inescapable rationing that will come later. Her analogy helped cut through the rhetoric and let people know what is really at stake. If you are looking for a lie, how about the fallacious argument that rampant government spending on health care will lead to a lower deficit?

Huh?

So the media is my “Idiots of the Year”? Well, not exactly. See, I don’t think that they are stupid. Like the leftists in the government, they have an agenda. They have a goal. Their treatment of conservatives and level-headed ideas is all part of the plan. They’re schemers. They may or may not actually believe what they are saying, or know any better than to believe it, but they do know what they are doing.

Misguided? Nefarious? Maybe. Idiots? Not in the least.

The idiots are the people at which they aim their propaganda. Yes, I’m talking about the oft-discussed “independent” voters.

There are two kinds of “independents.” There are those who have a firm grasp of their ideology and the facts and simply choose not to align themselves with a specific party. There are conservatives who don’t call themselves Republicans. There are leftists who don’t think the Democrats have embraced Marx and Mao enough.

But these are not the people I’m talking about. I’m talking about the remaining independents. The people who voted for Bush in 04, then voted for Obama in 08. People who pride themselves on being so “smart” that they are above politics. They rely on the nation’s current moods and trends. They are heavily influenced by the media.

And, quite frankly, they are idiots.

If you don’t understand the issues, if you have no clue about American history, if you don’t understand what GDP means, why vote? Why respond to a poll? What could you possibly offer the discourse?

There simply aren’t enough leftists in our society to do any damage. Their ideology is flawed and most of their tenets fly in face of common sense and American values. They gain power when they manage to snooker the weak minded, weak willed and principle-less “independents” over to their side.

How can anyone in their right mind be “shocked” by anything that transpired in 2009? Everything Obama said in the campaign, everything he ever wrote (or supposedly wrote) in his self-aggrandizing books or op-eds, every one of his professional and personal associations leads us directly to where we are. Economic mess, international relations failure and low national morale.

I’m shocked that anyone is shocked. I’m shocked that someone could vote for Obama and the Democrats and now, now they think that the country is on the wrong track. The election of Republican governors in New Jersey and Virginia as well as countless opinion polls show that these “independents” have already lost faith in the mighty Obama and his one-two punch of Hope and Change.

Idiots.

I know, I know, these “independents” are tracking conservative now so I should be happy that they are finally going to wear the white hat and do the right thing. 2010 will be a massacre for the left, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the Republicans take control of both the House and the Senate. But, so what. These clowns will flip-flop again by 2012. They will start reciting all sorts of nonsense about Palin or Romney or whoever else runs against “The One.” We will here all sorts of B.S. about Republican obstructionism, failed compromises, how the foreign affairs stuff is “working” but just needs time, etc. Blah, blah, blah.

And the idiots will eat it up.

Everyone over the age of eighteen has the “right” to vote, but what about the responsibility that comes with that? Why does no one take this seriously? I understand not wanting to be tied to a specific or particular party, but how about being tied to some sort of educated, principled thought process? Is that too much to ask?

Part of what hurts our country economically and abroad is this constant flip-flopping of political parties and agendas. Is it a mystery that our cycle of economic boom and bust is loosely tied to our election cycles? Do we ever intend to meddle in another country’s affairs with the objective of screwing it up only to leave? Or is that we start something and the “independent” geniuses in our electorate loose their convictions and start buying the hype of the opposition? With the opposition in power, they reverse the course and tick everyone off.

Taxing people and letting the government control the economy doesn’t end recessions or depressions. Never has, never will.

Mankind is far too small and insignificant to bring about the destruction of planet Earth by people having house pets and driving big cars. Yeah, pollution sucks, and we should do what we can about it, but stop with the doom and gloom nonsense. Besides, if it was that dire, do we really think that a leftist restructuring of the global economy is the way to fix it?

When government controls health care, you loose freedom and you loose access to care. That’s a fact. Just look around the world.

Treating dictators and fascists like they are your bros only empowers them to be bigger jackasses. Terrorists shouldn’t get a sympathetic ear, they should get a few rounds from an M-60.

America was built on liberty, personal responsibility, and the entrepreneurial spirit. Europe was destroyed by socialism and multi-culturalism. Any political system or tradition that comes from Europe should have a “don’t try this at home” disclaimer stamped on it before it comes to the U.S..

A plurality of our society understands these things. A small minority profits by believing the exact opposite.

And the rest don’t know what to believe.

Idiots.