Emulating The American Public

OR: When In Rome -- Expect To See A Lot Of Italians

by Lord_Vegas -Opinion

As anyone who has ever been divorced knows, the opposite of love is not hate, it is indifference. The devastating parting shot that Rhett Butler quipped to Scarlet O'Hara was not "Frankly my dear, I hate you."

This is a hard truth to those of us who spend an inordinate amount of time studying the political landscape and then commenting on it. For political activists, the public indifference to what goes on in their government, is astonishing to all of us. The same American voter who cannot name a single Supreme Court Justice can rattle off the entire cast of Friends, including their current love interests.

While the pundit class screams in moral outrage at the Berkeley City Council for condemning the US Marine Corp and supporting Code Pink, the American people demand a resolution to the Screen Writers strike, so that they can move beyond re-runs. That Code Pink would compare US Military recruiting stations to the pornography industry will, for the most part, fall upon deaf American ears.

Code Pink said it has begun to circulate a petition calling for a Berkeley ballot measure that would make it more difficult to open and operate recruiting stations. The measure would be modeled after anti-pornography laws, organizers said, mandating that - like porn shops - new recruiting offices be subject to public hearings before they would be allowed to locate near homes or schools.

While conservative bloggers scream with rage, and a handful of Congressional leaders propose punitive legislation that will go absolutely nowhere, the American public awaits the latest American Idol episode -- especially since this is the time of year when it more closely resembles the Gong Show. Chuck Barris aside, it is the US Military that provides useful idiots like Code Pink and the Berkeley City Council the freedom to publicly hate their own country. That same military provides the American public the freedom to be apathetic.

I have decided to exercise my own God given right to indifference.

For those of us living in Michigan, this apathy has been brought home once again with Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and the revelation that he (gasp) lied under oath about an affair he was having with his Chief of Staff, Christine Beatty. His little dalliance, and his specific denial of any such relationship while under oath, cost the taxpayers of Detroit (and Michigan) over 9 million dollars in settling the case in question.

Now that the truth has come out, while he has faced a certain (yawn) outrage, he is not expected to suffer any consequences politically. According to political pollster Steve Miller;

But a potential perjury case against him would be a tough sell with a jury of Detroiters, he said.

"How hard will prosecutors try to push a perjury charge?" Mitchell said. "It would be hard to get a unanimous verdict. He is popular in Detroit."

He predicts the scandal won't affect him negatively in the long-run. Affairs by politicians are by no means unprecedented. Attorney General Mike Cox acknowledged having an affair in 2005 and President Bill Clinton eventually acknowledged an affair with intern Monica Lewinsky.

That's right. As I have pointed out several times, this is already settled case law. Everybody lies about sex before a Grand Jury or while testifying under oath in a jury trial. If the President of the United States cannot be forced to pay any price for his crimes, you certainly cannot expect to exact a price from a popular black mayor.

To revisit, for a moment, that time in American history, when confronted with the clear facts of Presidential malfeasance, the American public embraced a brand new reality program called Surviver, relegating the Impeachment of the President of the United States to an afterthought.

The plethora of reality programs today has obviously cut into the popularity of Surviver, as the 2008 edition of Surviver Washington seems to be a total bust with the American people. It could be the fact that the cast of Surviver Washington has no compelling good guy, or simply the fact that it, like so many other programs of the past, has simply run its popularity course.

But then again, the cast has worked hard to make itself unfriendly to the public. Scandals, both past and present, have become so commonplace that most people cannot be bothered to keep abreast of the news. After all, Britney Spears and her difficulty with substance abuse is so much more interesting than delving into the peculiar fundraising habits of dishwashers and waiters in Chinatown. It is so much more compelling television (forget about reading newspapers or magazines to get an in-depth understanding of issues -- that is so last century) to watch a police escort taking Britney off to forced rehab, than watching a bunch of pundits explain "bundling" and other esoteric fundraising practices.

Besides, we are told, "Everybody does it."

That is why I have decided to be indifferent.

Of course, both sides are guilty -- or so we are told. When FBI agents found $90,000 of cold cash in the freezer of Rep William Jefferson, D-LA, the Republican congressional leadership immediately took the high road -- condemning the FBI for raiding a Congressional office, and violating the "sanctity" of the Legislative Branch. Is it any wonder that the public doesn't care?

In the case of Surviver Washington 2008, all of the main cast members have flaws that contribute to voter disinterest. Sen Hillary Clinton has, well, so damn many skeletons in her closet, it is amazing she can even find a change of clothing. From the Rose Billing Records, to Travelgate, to Bimbo Eruptions, to Chinagate, etc, there is just so much wrong with this woman, that it is incomprehensible that she is even a finalist in this competition.

Sen Barak H OBama, likewise has distinguished himself during his short political history with questionable associates and shenanigans.

The leading Republican in this sweepstakes, Sen John McCain seems to have, through simple public apathy to have weathered McCain-Feingold, McCain-Kennedy, McCain-Lieberman and the Gang of 14, as well as being an unindicted co-conspirator in the Keating Five Scandal. The just breaking news that in 2001 he sought out the Democrat leadership in congress to negotiate a switch to that party, will no doubt be met with similar indifference. From The Hill:

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) was close to leaving the Republican Party in 2001, weeks before then-Sen. Jim Jeffords (Vt.) famously announced his decision to become an Independent, according to former Democratic lawmakers who say they were involved in the discussions.

In interviews with The Hill this month, former Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) and ex-Rep. Tom Downey (D-N.Y.) said there were nearly two months of talks with the maverick lawmaker following an approach by John Weaver, McCain’s chief political strategist.

Democrats had contacted Jeffords and then-Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-R.I.) in the early months of 2001 about switching parties, but in McCain’s case, they said, it was McCain’s top strategist who came to them.

It is my prediction that this revelation, on the very eve of Super Tuesday will result in the collective question: ""What is it with Lindsay Lohan?" The handful of voters, defying the American apathy that has become so much a part of the American landscape, will take this knowledge and...do absolutely nothing with it. After all, everybody does it, and really, "Who cares?"

I have made the decision to join with my fellow Americans and become entirely apathetic. I know what you are thinking; "Who cares?" Well, as of right now, I certainly do not.

Frankly my dear, I just don't give a damn.