The Monday Line: It’s the Smirk I Want to Wipe of Their Faces!
by Denis G. Campbell
I don’t hate Republicans. I hate what they stand for, how they use words and a smug, superior smirk which says “what I say doesn’t matter because I got you to talk about me.”
I hate that I care so much about the state of the world and its blatant purchase by the monied, oligarchic elite. That about 100 billionaires can buy (or attempt to buy) the US Presidency without a peep from the rest of the world is beyond ridiculous.
I hate the apathy I see where 50% don’t even bother to show up to vote and 10% of the voters in either a primary or by-election can determine the course of a government. 30,000 people voted in Delaware four years ago allowing Christine (‘I am not a witch’) O’Donnell to defeat a respected member of Congress and lose the general election badly.
I hate that Republicans in the USA can pass legislation and rules that deliberately wedge and disenfranchise people of colour, Hispanics and the elderly to get them to not vote, the most important responsibility and right of every citizen. If this were a 3rd world South American or African nation trying to suppress voting and manipulate an election, the UN would have observers on the ground.
I hate the dumbing down of America and Britain to the point where unless it is celebrity or reality show driven people take no interest. I have offered to address Comprehensive schools to try to instil the sense of civics I had at age 15, but like the media, they are concerned with balance vs. truth. If the Tory has 2:00 minutes, the Labour rep must have the same without regard to whether or not they speak truth.
I hate gadgets that will cause riots in store queues as people fight for them but those same people cannot see how their world and rights are being completely co-opted and worse, could care less. Just make sure I am a first day holder of the iPhone 5 baby! People are so absorbed by these devices that they are getting killed stepping off of sidewalks into the path of oncoming vehicles whilst updating their Facebook status.
I hate that so many people including my contributor and good friend Charley James lives with such uncertainty trying to catch a break whilst they use and peddle influence to enrich themselves. Charley’s series ‘Suddenly Homeless’ here has been as important as any writing by John Steinbeck about the depression because he is homeless and struggles every day in obscurity because politicians talk only about the middle class, not the poor whose ranks grow daily and are ignored.
I hate that the pundits I often end up debating on air come across only as caring about getting theirs. It’s as if the wheel of fate will never come up craps in their lives. Until it does. I won’t mention their name and there is little Schadenfreude in seeing them fall. What consumes me is one thought… what made you think your party wouldn’t throw you under the bus? What happened when life threw you lemons and you couldn’t make lemonade any more? (OK two thoughts.)
I hate watching the Republicans blatantly lie and pursue a fact-free agenda they know works because it manipulates the people they want it to with simple statements crafted to get them to swallow those lies that once repeated become 1st truth… and then fact. And it was Goebbels who first created the big lie repeated over and over again as fact.
I hate the polarity and fighting for a system where the choice is almost never what’s best, but will do the least harm. I am terrified to think of what will happen to women in the USA if Romney wins. If he gets to appoint up to 4 Supreme Court Justices, everything from abortion to voting rights gets thrown out the window and the USA is sold to the highest bidder.
I hate that I have to write an entire article about what I hate.
Four years ago I was inspired. Now I feel like we are hanging on by a thread against enormous financial odds to save what is left of the USA’s safety net, social system and institutional conscience.
My only hope is a wave election on 06 November that sweeps the Dems back into power, repudiates extremism and gets the country and by extension the world back on track.
Why? Because David Cameron follows the USA’s lead like the loyal lapdog he is. If he can get away with more austerity and rewarding his monied pals he will. But if the USA repudiates austerity and takes this opportunity to build, he will do the same or will be deposed and the rest of the world? It will follow-on and do the same, it’s looking for someone to stand up to the markets.
Maybe the Mayans are right. Maybe this is end times because while I love what I do, I hate the cost in lost time, emotion and treasure. This year feels like a wasted one.
Denis G Campbell is the author of 6 books including 'Billionaire Boys Election Freak Show,' 'The Vagina Wars' & 'Egypt Unsh@ckled.' He is the editor of UK Progressive Magazine and provides commentary to the BBC, itv Al Jazeera English, CNN, MSNBC and others. His weekly 'World View with Denis Campbell' segment can be heard every Thursday on the globally syndicated The David Pakman Show. You can follow him on Twitter via @UKProgressive and on Facebook.
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That is not what I am seeing here in pre-election Ohio. I can only tell you that more than ever, working Americans are informed re the crucial issue for Americans–health care access for U S taxpayers and our families. We intend to live so we can work. We are a determined and very large group of voters.
The more it becomes obvious that certain market players are still operating upon certain states and doomed to fail (again), the less these non-Conservative, non GOP extremists can pull off behind our backs. Even major media in Ohio is starting to print some of the truth about these issues and these known,corrupt candidates. Yes, even them. Finally.
As encouragement to have renewed faith in the American system, read about health care in the AFL-CIO blog. They represent average working people in Ohio and how they feel. These average working people know the facts re major issues and are prepared to follow through. That is just one example.
Average working people don’t listen to media pundits, “expert” opinions, media hysterics on certain channels (except to laugh), celebrities who are simply ridiculous people—in other words, we don’t have time to spend watching or listening to idiots on TV. We also find them stupid, offensive and/or funny whenever we happen to see them talk.
Average working people don’t care about or like politics. We care about real issues and that’s it. Anyone who has to listen to the hype and nonsense of the silly season is going to tire of it fast.
Covering politics on many fronts at once is too much, I think. Taking a short, small break is helpful. No one can read about candidates who defend raping women and not have a typical reaction–disgust and nausea. Since no one in either party agrees with these bizarre extremists, they can be discounted. Voters already have.
As one relief option, I would focus on existing and working solutions to issues instead of daily verbal exchanges and bickering between politicians. Discussing housing, education, health care & employment solutions that are already working should prove rewarding or refreshing. That might help.
Focus on what you admire and/or esteem for a little while and then go back into the election swill. You do a good job but every human has limits of tolerance.
Excellent post, Mr. Clark.
I, too, am saddened and disappointed by many of the developments Mr. Campbell mentions. But to be so consumed by hate? That is a sad situation as well.
One other point: Hating every person of a certain type strikes me as a reasonable definition of racism or its equivalent. My best friend, now deceased, and I did not agree on many political issues but our friendship lasted for 40 years because our disagreements never were personal. If I had hated him because I saw him as one of “that group”, a wonderful person and great experiences would be missing from my life.