How about the BIRTHER controversy where most everyone “agreed” to turn a blind eye. Consider the following AT article which calls that behavior information cascade and Wilfred Trotter’s herd-instinct behavior.

“the president’s long-form birth certificate has a lengthy line of forgery experts willing to testify that the April 27th White House PDF is a complete digital fabrication.”

http://tinyurl.com/3dgouuh

“John Boehner has a plan that he touts as slashing about $900 billion in government spending – shy of his original claim, only two days earlier, that cuts would amount to $1.2 trillion. It’s nonsense, of course. In Washington, unlike the rest of the known universe, a “cut” is a reduction in the rate of increase.”

“The saddest thing about Thomas Sowell’s take on all this is not his suggestion that the political fallout of the debt controversy trumps the substance of the debt problem. It is his intimation that the truth can’t win.”

“Our system is premised on the conviction that the right side can always win – that the strength of its arguments can turn the political tide and force even committed ideologues like Barack Obama to yield. And I believe the system works.”

Basically, the plan is lies, fears and tears. It is not honest pragmatism.

Don’t be afraid of the coming hard times. The weak, lazy and dishonest will be winnowed out like chaff.

I have exactly zero concern for what the “urban poor” wants or likes.”

I remember the urban riots of the Sixties. It didn’t take much to set them off. Because Obama is black he has been getting a pass from blacks so far. With the current high unemployment among blacks and the destruction of the black middle class, a white, Republican president would be pilloried right now, and riots would be likely.

Obama’s mere presence in the White House is buying us some time, but the economic data suggest no relief in sight. The flash mobs in the cities are a look into the future.

Wasn’t it FDR who came up with freedom from want? An absurd notion that probably set the course for the omniscient super state in charge of removing all suffering from life. And if it fails (which is guaranteed) it’s really an issue of a lack of funding from heartless citizens who don’t care.

“What’s really frightening is NOBODY is talking about the massive wealth creation that will be needed to fix this mess.”

Not gonna happen if we push taxes up to 20%+ of GDP to pay for the dems spending (assuming 3-4% more is paid with inflation…). 🙂

So, a double whammy. Out of control spending with 1-2% growth…. Ah dem econ..

On the micro good side of this issue; all the dead on arrival talk and any gloating about rewrites by democrats chips away at their argument that wacko tea party people are causing this whole thing.

But the republicans will probably loose on the pr war on the whole for the issue. The house republican leaders are not up to arguing their case. The democrats tore up the constitution to pass the healthcare bill (used interstate commerce bs). They scammed paygo with reconciliation and bogus cbo data points… Now they’re creating a phony crisis with default talk and no Social Security checks + threats to creatively living constitution the 14th amendment. We shouldn’t need to have a fight over the debt ceiling but we are having it due to their previous pattern of lawlessness. This is a place we were able to get some footing to push back.

The fear of the people will subside when they finally have people in government and positions of power who respect them and encourage them and recognize them for what they contribute to our society. Then people will not be frightened about raising the retirement age.

I don’t think that people in the blogosphere are typical of the average American. I’m not talking about their political persuasions–liberal, conservative, or in-between. I’m talking about their intensity about politics, and their interest in it and patience for reading and thinking about it.

Yes, I resent having to think about politics 24/7/365. That is not a natural state of affairs.

Before the New Deal, the average American citizen had little if any interaction with the federal government. The governing authorities were local, county, and state governments, in that order.

But nowadays the federal government asserts total control over everybody and everything, and is stampeding across the landscape like Godzilla on crystal meth.

We definitely need to change it back. And then we could get back to our normal lives and would no longer need to be obsessed with federal politics.