As I was following the herd's asphalt borne migration to work today, I was reflecting on the nature of political punditry, and its intention. This morning the sprinkler installers showed up to install some interior piping, and since one of them managed to get molten solder in his eye, they were there quite some time. Between getting an icepack for the unfortunate installer and taking the dog's piss soaked blanket out of his crate, I managed to watch my backlog of TiVoed Daily Show episodes. The Daily Show is a very liberal program, and watching it made me feel quite dejected about the future vis a vis not being a French colony in the next 4 to 8 years. And yes, I recognize the irony if saying 'vis a vis' in the context of how much I hate France. I did it on purpose, you fucking commie.
So, I was driving into work, feeling dejected and trying to find a silver lining to the gallic cloud, and the best I could come up with is that when the Democrats are in the oval office, then at least the ridiculously overused comedy bits will mostly refer to them for a while. That way, the Daily Show will be less of a broken record of shit that I find mildly irritating, and more a broken record of things I find quite humorous. For example, “George Bush looks like a monkey” makes me want to shove my head in a woodchipper. But when Rush calls John Kerry the “French looking candidate” it gives me a jolly sensation. So, that's worth whatever it's worth. Mostly this is intended to be a longwinded and rambling intro to my Groupthink topic, because I really liked oldmanmurray.com back when they actually updated it, and they used a lot of longwinded rambling intros as well.
Groupthink: I was comparing the effects that the Daily Show and Rush Limbaugh's show have on me, and I realized something... Neither really changed my mind. Neither altered my perception of the issues. However both were very effective in making me think that their personal agenda was winning in the national consciousness. After watching Jon Stewart, I had the feeling that the nation was fully prepared to strap on its WWJCD bracelets (that's What Would Jaques Chirac Do), and get their whinge on. Listening to Rush makes me feel like there may still be a large mass of people who take our national foundations seriously, who believe in personal freedom, who understand the necessity of sacrifice, and who won't let this nation become a lapdog to lapdogs.
The key point here is that media outlets don't engage the issues, they try to engage people on a more basic level. On the herd level. On the Groupthink level. Most people don't know the issues, they just want to know where the herd's headed, so they can stay in step, and not end up alone on the tundra, bleating pitifully, as the howling of wolves draws closer. The message is simple: “You don't understand the issues, but don't worry. We promise, the herd is headed left. Just follow them.“ What's sad, is that it works on me. Liberals make me feel like they're winning. Conservatives do too. My sad, fragile little meatbrain is so easily confused in this regard that I fear cybernetic modification may be the only option.
So, that's where we are. Because none of you fucking retards can find the time to figure out what tort reform is, I have to be treated like a sheep. I want you folks to be very honest with yourself, and if you want a lobotomy, just get one. Stop beating around the bush and do it.