Politics of fear

The year was 1987.  My political science professor  was lecturing and he suddenly said something that made me snap to attention.  “Wait and see my young charges, the politics of fear cannot help but become the politics of hate.  We always end up hating what we fear.”   Twenty three years later his comments seem to be more relevant today than ever. 

I understand politics, I really do.  I get it.  I know that sometimes you have to make back room deals with people you don’t agree with, about matters you can barely stomach, just so you can get your pet project through.  I realize that sometimes progress is slow, or must take a step backwards even, before 2 steps forward can be achieved.  But when did it become normal practice to instill fear and hate?  When did it become normal to misrepresent the facts anytime it suited your needs?  When did outright lies and smear campaigns become not only accepted but seemingly  necessary.  Now both sides would have us believe the other side does it more or “better”.   Both sides surely do it….one side does it consistently, or is that constantly? 

I am fond of pointing out to just about anybody that will listen, that our political beliefs come from the same place our religious beliefs come from, our EMOTIONS.  Yes I know, those smart enough  to be reading this, also believe they are smart enough to set aside emotion and make THEIR decisions based on fact.  Unfortunately, this is simply not true.  Once we accept a thought as true we will go to extreme lengths to validate that belief to ourselves as well as others.  We need not look very hard to see this truism in our everyday lives.  For instance, in a polling of Americans 69% say that Republicans will/can do better at decreasing the deficit.  Yet, NOT ONE Republican president has decreased the deficit since Nixon.  NOT ONE! 











 Now why would the majority of Americans look so kindly upon the fiscal prowess of repubs even though history shows us otherwise?  Because that is, and has been, and probably always will be, a Republican talking point. It is true that if you yell something enough times it becomes true for a large percentage of the populous.  More examples you say?    OK:

25% of repubs believe Obama was born in Kenya. Another 18% are unsure.   This means that 43% of Americans either think or are unsure if we have a legitimate President sitting in the White House.

 20%  of Repubs say Obama is doing many of the same things Hitler did. When pressed most cannot name one concrete thing…most just mutter about Obama being a socialist…apparently Hitler was a closet socialist.

60% of repubs believe Obama enacted TARP not Bush

Over half of repubs believe the earth is only 6000 years old. 

Here are some things that may seem hypocritical to some that repubs accept as true.

Government should limit its powers to those explicitly granted in the Constitution, except when it comes to gay marriage and abortion.

Global warming is junk science, but Creationism should be taught in schools.

Jesus loves you and shares your hatred of homosexuals.

Condoms should be kept out of schools because they increase the likelihood of children having sex.

There are at least 50 Republican politicians that believe abortion should be illegal even in the event of incest or rape.

.Almost every Republican politician voted yes on the bill that paved the way for the Iraqi government to pay for health care for all its citizens.  Yes, Universal Health care. None, not one , brought up this interesting proposal for the United States.

Lying about having sex with someone is an impeachable offense, but lying to your country and others about weapons of mass destruction to facilitate an unjust war, well that’s just good sound defense policy.

Well, I could go on and on.  For my own sanity I need to stop here.  Yes I have a huge list of stupid things democrats believe as well.   For instance, dems believe that if you present the American public with the facts, they will make a reasoned well informed decision.  Democrats are so STUPID. They are the perennial Charlie Brown to the republican Lucy.  If only that ball would be held still!!

Now we have a new wing of the republican party.  The Tea party. The party whose candidates seem to refuse to go on any channel but Fox.  You know, years ago if a candidate for public office refused interviews they would be publicly mocked and scorned. Now it is established Repub strategy to ignore mainstream press and ONLY go on Fox News. And where is the outcry from the supposed biased media? They still present these clowns like Angle, Brewer,O' Donnel, Miller and the like, as viable candidates with "something to say". The media today has become a joke. When our politicians and candidates LIE they should be called out on it. Not every position has two sides...sometimes facts are facts and lies are lies. Until our media calls out these clowns the tea party will continue to thrive. We have got to stop making it seem that a lie is somehow just a differing of opinion. When you are caught red handed telling untruths, especially when it is meant to misinform the people you are (mis)representing, you should be called out on it. Of course we are the main culprits in all this hate and fear in our political system. We buy right into it and instead of demanding something better, we only demand more of the same.  Now it is the norm to demonize, literally and figuratively those we disagree with. It is the norm to "believe" things even most children would scoff at.  You might be asking yourself if 43% of Americans believe Obama might not be an American why is there not a revolt?  Why are we not rioting in the streets? Well deep down inside those that "claim" hes a Kenyan, actually know better.  Its just more fun and beneficial to spout the nonsense.  Surely nobody with a brain actually thinks Rush Limbaugh doesn't KNOW Obama was born in America.  He just likes to rile up his listeners.  NO only 20% actually believe Obama was born in Kenya.  I'm not sure if the remaining 23% should be held in higher regard though.  Pretending you believe a lie might be worse than believing the lie to begin with. Actually I am pretty sure it is.  Unless of course you are a politician, or Fox News.

My professor was right. Of course now that I think about it, he must have been a liberal, socialist, fascist, elitist commie.  Yeah , I am pretty sure he was.

 thanks for listening

durastorm

Facebook users are narcissistic

   Every now and then I will post something quite witty on Facebook.  I'm not talking some famous quote by a dead person like Abe Lincoln, Jonathan Swift, or Albert Einstein.  No, I mean some sort of original thought or twist of words that gives me some sort of chuckle,and I hope, others as well.  When I started my FB account (must have been about 18 months ago or so now) I unwittingly sent all FB post replies to my phone and email.  My e-mail already was connected to my smart phone in such a way that when I get a e-mail my phone lights up.  Well FB sends me an e-mail every time somebody responds to anything I have posted on FB.  So, thanks to my smarter than me smartphone, very little that happens on FB that has ANYTHING to do with me, gets by my watchful gaze.  Needless to say, those rare occurrences when I post something that is "witty and relevant" I want others to respond and actually care when they do.
  I have been keeping a log of my time spent on FB, and the time spent on my smart phone with FB related activities.  It appears I spend 24 minutes on average a day on FB.  Twenty four minutes.  Roughly the time, minus commercials, of your favorite sitcom.  One more episode of "Big Bang Theory" or "Two and a half Men" could be squeezed into my consciousness.  Instead, I am browsing through pictures of people I have not seen in real time for some 20 plus years.  Why do I spend time looking at pics of your kids and vacations, when I haven't talked to you in like....FOREVER!? How is your time spent in Maui relevant to me today?  Why do I care?
 IF I spend 24 minutes a day on FB then I must spend at least 5 minutes of that reading bible verses my friends post.  Likewise I spend an incredible amount of time "ignoring" requests from Farmville, Mafia Wars, and whatever other stupid application is "COOL" today.  I spend about 2 minutes a day reading the afore mentioned famous quotes by dead people, quite often posted by people whom if it were not for FB I would not know if THEY were dead or not. I spend about 5 minutes of my 24 scrolling through notifications that you reached some level in Petville previously thought unattainable, or maybe you just became the 14th most "hugged" person on your friend list. Sigh... All this reading crap I don't really care about leaves me precious little time to post stuff on FB that YOU won't care about.  And we all know that if I cannot tell you my latest musings on politics or religion, well my day just won't be complete.  Well so why do I do it? Why do you do it?  Well while I was perusing through one of my psychology periodcals I came across the answer.  I am, we are, possibly, kinda, sorta...umm how do I say this...self-centered.  Yup we are narcissists.  Seriously, we are. 

You didn't think you were looking through my old  pics because you cared what I look like today did you?  No, you couldn't care less my son is a star basketball player or my daughter just got back from Spain with some classmates.  You don't even care what I think about politics, or religion, or much of anything else for that matter.  But guess what you do care about?  Yup, most of us care about what WE write and what people think and comment about what we (ourselves) post.  Surprise!  You all are just a bunch of attention craving, low self esteem having narcissists!  Thats right! Accept your reality!  Below are the highlights of the Facebook user study.

Using Facebook is the online equivalent of staring at yourself in the mirror, according to a study.


Those who spent more time updating their profile on the social networking site were more likely to be narcissists, said researchers.

Facebook provides an ideal setting for narcissists to monitor their appearance and how many ‘friends’ they have, the study said, as it allows them to thrive on ‘shallow’ relationships while avoiding genuine warmth and empathy.

People who constantly check Facebook may be lacking in self-esteem, a study found

They also tend to use the site for promoting themselves to friends or people they would like to meet, the study concluded.

Researcher Soraya Mehdizadeh from York University in Canada asked 100 students, 50 male and 50 female, aged between 18 and 25 about their Facebook habits.

They all took psychology tests to measure their levels of narcissism, which the study defined as ‘a pervasive pattern of grandiosity, need for admiration, and an exaggerated sense of self-importance’.

Those who scored higher on the narcissism test checked their Facebook pages more often each day than those who did not.

There was also a difference between men and women – men generally promoted themselves by written posts on their Facebook page while women tended to carefully select the pictures in their profile.

The findings, published in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behaviour And Social Networking, also suggested that those with low self-esteem also checked their Facebook pages more regularly than normal.

This may not be altogether surprising as it is widely thought, however contradictory it may appear, that narcissism is linked to a deep-rooted lack of self-esteem.

Now the main problem I have with this study is the age group monitored.  18-25....really?  The only group more insecure than this is probably the 14-18 demographic.  Given the fact that my daughter has over 10,000 texts a month, and over 3,000 is considered a compulsion, well what am I suppose to think of the fact that she posts every giggle, fart or burp?  Am I raising well adjusted children able to cope with the world and its limitless intricacies?  Or am I raising selfish little trolls with narcissistic tendencies?  WTF do I care?  As long as they don't get any facial tattoos, or piercings that conceal their inherited good looks, and don't embarrass me in public, it's all good.

There you have it fellow narcissists.  Our lack of self-esteem is what prompts us to be on FB so much.  Well, for you guys anyways, not me.  I use my FB to keep in touch with close friends and family.  Sometimes even to promote business contacts...but never because of the reasons stated in the study.  Oh by the way have you all listed yourself as a "follower" to my blog?  If not please take the time to do it now.  That way the next time I write one of these you can be alerted immediately as to  its posting. I would hate for any of you to miss my most important thoughts. 

Thanks for listening,

Durastorm

What is Polidiotical?

     I have often wondered... what inspires people to start their own blog?  Is it because they want their ideas and thoughts heard? Or is it because they are narcissistic and feel they have a better grasp on issues than most?  Maybe some blog in the hope that they can be influential and change this or that,one thing or another.  Maybe others blog just to make sense of confusing issues in their own minds.  I don't know for sure, but I have to ask myself that same difficult question, "Why are you starting a blog?".

     This question should be easy enough to answer.  Somehow though I don't know why.  I am not expecting this blog to make any money.  I do not expect that I will reach millions of people and institute or start any REAL change.  I do not expect that the masses will respond with ego boosting comments or accolades about how smart or insightful I am.  (as a matter of fact I expect quite the opposite of that)
I suppose if I had to pick one reason it would be the one I mentioned earlier.  I am just trying to make sense of confusing issues in my own mind.  I don't have all the answers and I promise I will never pretend to. 

     I do hope you will find this blog entertaining.  Educational yes, thought provoking hopefully, but mostly, I just want you to be entertained.  You don't have to agree with most or anything of what I write to be entertained.  You don't have to agree with my viewpoints to learn something of value.  The topics we will be discussing in this blog will vary.  Current events, pop culture, sports, news, finances, and like the name,politics.  Speaking of the name...I must admit in a rare moment of vanity...I like it!
For just as the name implies politics have become idiotic.  I will spare no political idiot from my sharp wit and fast fingers. I will point out both Republican and Democratic hypocrisy and idiocy.

     I am well aware that many that follow this blog will not agree with everything I assert. With your help, I will separate fact from fiction, logic from emotion, and sometimes even right from wrong.  I will read your comments and suggestions and together we will find some common ground.  My writing style will most probably evolve, or morph into something quite different than what it is at present.  Several of my friends and colleagues have informed me of this.  I will always try to keep the words readable and the content current. 

   I do ask those that know my true identity to keep it to themselves.  I understand that most that read this especially in the beginning, are my friends.  But please, refer to me in your posts or replies as Durastorm.

Thanks for listening....

Durastorm