On The Road To An Idiocracy

In 2006 there was an underrated satiric film "Idiocracy" which takes place 500 years in the future where society is incredibly dumbed down and humans have lost the ability to think sensibly. The results of the 2006 and 2008 elections had me worried that we here in America were indeed headed down that path but last November gave me some hope that our brain cells are still functioning. There are still vestiges of mind numbing paralytic thought processing but fortunately this seems to be evident only in the mainstream press which abdicated its journalistic integrity during those two election cycles.

In a recent American Thinker article by Douglas Hackleman, he reviews Jack Cashill's explosive new book, "Deconstructing Obama: The Life, Loves, and Letters of America's First Postmodern President."

Mr. Cashill alleges that after intense methodology he believes that Barack Obama did not write the two books which made him a millionaire-"Dreams for My Father and "Audacity of Hope." He provides convincing data to suggest that former radical and terrorist bomber Bill Ayers may have ghostwritten Obama's memoirs which bear a significant likeness to Ayers' own memoir, "Fugitive Days."

Mr. Hackleman berates the press for failing to perform due diligence and writes: "If the fourth estate looked anything like America, the preliminary findings Cashill attempted to share with the press in October 2008 would have established Ayers publicly as the ghost of Obama's Dreams, and Sarah Palin most likely would be the first female vice president of the United States. Had the press done its own digging and reporting much earlier in the campaign of 2007-2008 for the Democratic Party nomination, Hillary Clinton would be the first pants-suited president of the United States."

During the 2008 campaign I had discussed the upcoming election with an independent friend of mine who was blown away by the books and told me she thought that Obama was the most intelligent politician that we could hope to have in the White House. I am glad I never read those books because my opinion of Obama came from a study of his achievements and his voting record as state senator in Illinois. I also had serious reservations of his association with Rev. Wright and the radical Frank Marshall Davis in his youth. I also wondered why there was so little known about his academic records which appeared to be sealed. These were questions that the fawning press overlooked once they had fallen in love with the color of Obama's skin.

It was that and just the very idea of a black man in the White House that killed off whatever grey cells existed in Chris Matthews' head and led to the tingle down his leg. Poor Geraldine Ferraro, who just passed away, had the audacity to tell the truth during the '08 campaign. She said, "If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman of any color, he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept." Her own party denounced Ms. Ferraro and she was forced to quit the Hillary Clinton campaign team.

College students were the biggest patsies of 2008 because the world of academics is inhabited largely by socialists who were enthralled with the prospect of one of their own in power and they did all they could to influence the votes of young students.

While some young voters seem to be waking up from this spell, others stick stubbornly to their idealism albeit misguided and lacking deep cognition. One young woman wrote an open letter to the President on her blog: "As promised you gave us Healthcare Reform, instituted enforcement of equal pay for women, began troops withdrawal from Iraq, limited lobbyist influence on White House, removed restrictions on embryonic stem cell research, you ordered Guantanamo Bay prison to be phased out, extended financial aid for college students, you rescued the auto industry, you gave us credit card reform, etc. You have accomplished many of the things you set out to do, which the media rarely mentions."

She then insisted that she still has faith in Obama but was disappointed in his military involvement in Libya. She also proclaims herself to be a lifelong Democrat which explains why she's citing the party dogma without really thinking about the consequences of Obama's "successes." Does she understand that his healthcare reform has led to higher rates of unemployment; that we cannot afford it as written; that he has hired lobbyists for his administration and their influence has increased; that Gitmo will not be phased out; the troops are still in Iraq; that taxpayers are funding that auto industry and that only credit card companies not consumers benefitted from reform?

No she probably does not nor does she know how to question information received from what used to be a trustworthy source - the press.

When I was a freshman in high school I was required to study Latin 101 and the teacher, a Sisters of Charity nun, explained why it was necessary to study this dead language. She told us, "Latin will teach you to think." I ended up studying it for four years and while I can't credit it entirely for my cynicism when it comes to politics I did find it useful doing the Sunday Times crossword puzzle.

If we are to avoid killing off all our brain cells we need to start asking "why" more often than we do. Why do we have to replace incandescent light bulbs with ones that contain toxic mercury? Is it because they are made in China? Where is the word "abortion" in the Constitution? The taxpayers fund Planned Parenthood abortions - why? The constitution does include the right to bear arms so why are there so many laws against them? Why do we spend so much money on bottled water when our city has the best tasting water anywhere and is perfectly safe? Who's making money off of these health scares? Why are Snooki and the Situation celebrities? Why, why, why?

Here's hoping that in 2012 the American voters ignore rhetoric and stilted oratory; that they pay more attention to specific details and less attention to the gender and color of the speaker?

Alicia Colon resides in New York City and can be reached at aliciav.colon@gmail.com and at www.aliciacolon.com