State of the Union

The airwaves and coaxial wires were over flowing with politics last night, President Obama spoke, Democrats clapped and Republicans sent wax statues of the Senators from the Grand Old Party that lived up to the party's colorful nickname.

The President talked in a candid and, at times, confrontational manner to the law makers chastising them for the grid lock that results when you have the constant threat of a filibuster and a highly polarized Congress. He said that the American people expect then to get things done, to make things better.

But we all know that the American people don't expect that at all, mainly because we have watched the what comes out of Washingon,  Wars, the creation of new government departments to do what we already had 2 or 3 others to do, and the recent declaration from the Supreme Court that even though some Humans  may not deserve right all corporations do.

If was also clear that the Republicans refuse to respect Obama because they believe that he shouldn't be in the White House, Bush was equally diss'ed by the Democrats and realizing that we aren't dealing with clear headed geniuses one can see how tit for tat makes perfect sense. We all know that there is no more important American value than getting even, and both sides spend all the their spare time outside of getting themselves reelected seeking revenge for perceived slights.

The arrogance and power drunk folks that spend our money while failing to improve our lives may be a serious flaw in this whole Democracy thing, Canada has the same problem. One of their law makers suggested that they all go home except for the party leader since their is no interparty dissent allowed under the Delay modeled mob model which basically puts a hit on any law maker who thinks for themselves. If the easy going Canadians can't make it work maybe it isn't going to make it here either.

So it turns out the State of Union is sad, and this sad state is the result of everyone being so mad, whipped into constant hysteria of the most mundane of issues and getting only glossing opinions in serious matters. Even our triumphs are dissected into the binary state that all political positions must assume until they too become nothing more than a campaign tactic to get another desiccated geezer through another session so that it's owners interests can be served.

Media Companies have segmented their viewers and their information into neat buckets and spill over is minimal. So nothing is debated and everything is reinforced until it seems that there is only one way it can be, this is a propagandist technique that is used in politics and religion with great effectiveness, the inclusion and exclusion achieved by this method is very high. Add the Purity Tests for Republican Candidates and you can be sure that you will get candidates as interchangeable as beers in a six pack, but not nearly as much fun nor as interesting.

It creates unquestioning agreement, which as Scott Atran points out in his book, "In God's We Trust"is an essential element for religious belief. I witnessed a powerful example of this belief in Haiti where people praised an all powerful God for saving them without questioning why they were chosen for such suffering the first place. There is a power and a strength to this kind of faith and I have great respect for people that truly believe and live their lives with total faith.

That makes the Politicians and tacticians who manipulated citizens with these tactics, preying on the very thing that they claim to respect as they reap millions in perks and glory, staying in DC for years on end become the dried up husks we saw sitting the hallowed halls of goofiness as one after the other of these fiends take our money and our souls while being driven around town like kings instead of the jesters they have become.