Friday, October 15, 2010

Ignorance as Authenticity

Time's Joe Klein says he: was struck by this comment by a voter in today's New York Times account of last night's U.S. Senate debate in Delaware:
While Mr. Coons had broader range on issues and current events, he sometimes seemed mean-spirited. When Ms. O'Donnell asked whether a company he was connected to would benefit from the clean energy bill, he scoffed, “It was difficult for me to understand from her question what she was talking about.”

That could just serve to reinforce Ms. O'Donnell's image, which has had deep resonance this election season — that of an ordinary person trying to bring common sense to Washington.

That appealed to Alexandra Gawel, 23, a sociology major at the university who has worked her way through college as a waitress.

“She is someone I can relate to,” Ms. Gawel said, outside the debate hall in the late afternoon. “She's not had everything handed to her.”
Continuing, Klein writes: "This is a classic American myth, perpetrated by Hollywood, starting with Mr. Smith Goes to Washington--and it's a lovely fantasy. Mr. Smith was an inspired amateur. He followed the news and astonished his local oligarch puppet-master by actually reading the bills he was about to vote on, then making up his own mind. He was part of generation that took citizenship seriously and kept itself informed--even the "average" folks, our grandparents, who came home from work on the assembly line and read the evening newspaper (which actually had news in it, unlike the crapola sensationalism that passes for news on cable TV). I'd take a couple of average citizens like that in the Senate anytime, especially if they made the effort to learn the issues once they got there. But Christine O'Donnell is not like that." (my italics)

Klein's observation is spot on. When push comes to shove, I have faith in the collective wisdom of the American people (The election of Barack Obama is living proof of that). But the cult of ignorance, worn as a badge of honor by the Sarah Palin Stepford Wives (and Husbands), sometimes keeps me up at night.

Read Klein's full post here.

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