OP/ED: The S Factor

OP/ED: The S Factor

This OP/ED has gotten a lot of play in the blogosphere in the past few days. Here it is for your enjoyment in case you haven't seen it yet.

The S factor explains Bush's popularity

What, then, can account for so many people being so supportive of the president? . . .

It's the "Stupid factor," the S factor: Some people -- sometimes through no fault of their own -- are just not very bright.

It's not merely that some people are insufficiently intelligent to grasp the nuances of foreign policy, of constitutional law, of macroeconomics or of the variegated interplay of humans and the environment. These aren't the people I'm referring to. The people I'm referring to cannot understand the phenomenon of cause and effect. They're perplexed by issues comprising more than two sides. They don't have the wherewithal to expand the sources of their information. And above all -- far above all -- they don't think . . . .

Politicians have been aware of this forever; they cater to these people. They offer simplistic solutions to complex problems. They evade directed questions with non-sequiturs. They offer meaningless, jingoistic pap instead of thoughtful policy. And these people, the "S" people, eat it all up with a ladle.

I don't have a solution to this problem. To claim I did would belie my previous arguments. But I do have some modest suggestions that might provide a start for discussion: an intelligence test to earn the right to vote; a three-significantly-stupid-behaviors-and-you're-out law; fines for politicians who pander to the lowest common denominator and deportation of media representatives who perpetuate such actions.

My favorite part is that I suspect the author actually believes that the methods of remediation he proposes above would actually INCREASE Dem voting. . . . .

Riiiiiiiiight. ;-)

Earlier he makes some statements which just dazzle the mind in their umitigated arrogance.

What can explain his popularity? Can that many people be enamored of what he has accomplished in Iraq? Of how he has fortified our constitutional freedoms with the USA Patriot Act? Of how he has bolstered our economy? Of how he has protected our environment? Perhaps they've been impressed with the president's personal integrity and the articulation of his grand vision for America?

Is that likely?

Granted, there are certain subsections of the American polity that have substantially benefited from this presidency. Millionaires and charismatic Christians have accrued either material or spiritual fortification from Bush's administration. But surely these two groups are a small minority of the population. What, then, can account for so many people being so supportive of the president?

Yes, dear reader, only millionaires and charismatic Christians have benefitted from this president's policies.

Forget

• Iraqi women no longer being raped [UPDATE: by gov't thugs]
• Iraqi men no longer being tortured [UPDATE: by gov't thugs] and murdered
• Kurds no longer being gassed
• Afghans enjoying more freedom than ever before
• Americans who have received tax relief (the vast majority of Americans, BTW)
• Americans who have a new job or a better chance at finding a new job now
• Anyone who invests in the stock market (almost 150 million regular Americans - half the population)
• Anyone proud to be an American again

Yes, folks, no one but millionaires and charismatic Christians.