Jim Skaleski – The Blog

I avoid making posts about political issues at all costs, especially in today’s partisan society. However, things I have seen and read in just the last few weeks have made it impossible for me to keep a lid on things. From the inability of Congress to act on nearly any sort of legislation to the general ignorance of Americans who have the complete inability to step into the shoes of others, there has been a lot for me to consider.

I was discussing with my friends this past week how I was considering voting Republican in this next election. My reasoning behind this was that perhaps, if Republicans were in control of the house, more would get done and there would have to a level of negotiation we have not seen since the 1990s. However, I have concluded I simply cannot vote for the Republican party with a clear conscience.  The Republican party is not what it used to be, and instead has degenerated into an “entity” I cannot even begin to describe without being particularly offensive. Tea Party or not, the right appears to remain unified against common sense. Democrats, while they have barely shown a spine in standing up to such behavior while in control, have at least appeared to vote for what they individually believe.

Just last week we saw the failure of H.R. 491, a bill that was expected to pass easily in order to provide health care benefits for 9/11 rescue workers. Some Republicans were opposed because the bill would be PAID FOR…by closing a tax loophole on foreign companies with U.S. subsidiaries. In addition, instead of passing the bill as it was, Republicans planned to add a completely unnecessary amendment relating to illegal immigration. Because surely illegal immigrants that risked their lives to save others don’t deserve anything. Therefore, Democrats proceeded to go with a 2/3 majority vote in order to prevent such ridiculous amendments. The results of the vote, broken down by your State’s representatives, are here. This was the last straw for me in a series of events where I have witnessed right-wing individuals undertake actions that defy any sense of reason or morality, despite insisting they act on America’s “founding ideals” and “values.”

I was reminded of the Al Franken amendment brought to a Senate vote last year that was dubbed the “Anti-Rape Amendment”, following the incident involving Jamie Leigh Jones and KBR/Halliburton. While it passed with bi-partisan support, an amazing 30 Republican senators actually voted against this amendment. It sparked such outrage that a satirical website, Republicans for Rape, was launched.

The break down of American politics may have to do with the increased use and reliance on the internet for information. It has provided an exceptional forum for individuals to speak their minds and find like-minded people. However, this unfortunately has come with an enormous cost where those with radical notions that are largely based on little to no evidence are embraced and end up influencing the way politics work.

People ask whether or not I am a fan of Glenn Beck, Rachel Maddow, Rush Limbaugh, Keith Olbermann, etc. Despite often restricting myself, I clearly have left-oriented viewpoints. However, I despise all of these commentators. Rather than having real discussion on issues, they have been broken down into talking points on television which many people simply repeat in arguments as if they were zombies. Internet forums and blogs simply reinforce these opinions, and it generates a cycle. It doesn’t matter if it’s true or not, if it is popular among the people that support me, then it must be true.

The discussion by “birthers” of Obama’s birth certificate has been one of the most fringe movements I have witnessed in my lifetime. The pure unwillingness of individuals to do real research, rather than go with their ‘gut’ as evidence, is unfathomable. Despite me calling out a birthing claim with largely bi-partisan sources as opposed to almost exclusively right-wing and second-hand oriented blogs and news media, one sentence stood out in the whole discussion:

The only evidence I could ever have is the evidence he is hiding.

This isn’t really evidence. However, evidence be damned, especially in the case of global climate change. In a similar vein, the overwhelming facts and science behind what is a very real issue continue to be dismissed in favor of select sources that satisfy what these individuals want to hear. We have yet to get a serious climate bill passed through Congress, and unsurprisingly, it is due to unanimous Republican party opposition.

The party of no, fringe, anti-science, and anti-progress. I have seen the most ridiculous arguments as to why “progress” is not always good, and they rarely make sense or are simply repetitive and without individual contemplation. We cannot afford to NOT make social progress as a country when our technology is evolving at such an enormous rate that we are not adjusting correctly.

We are still teaching kids as if the internet, iPhones, and other distractions do not exist in their daily lives. We still disregard and insult Native Americans with mascots that marginalize their livelihood, then get up-in-arms over suggestions to replace them. We pretend that we are not damaging our planet with our fossil fuel dependence in the wake of one of the worst environmental disasters in history and the continued evidence that global warming is very real. We continue to discuss illegal immigration by considering racist band-aids rather than targeting the source of the problem.

We need to generate an atmosphere where it is okay to break away from the group norm. Perhaps the ability of the internet to allow loners to find homes in “groups”, as fringe-like as they may be, has now transcended into politics. I don’t believe most Republicans or Democrats are bad people as every-day individuals, however it seems they can no longer vote outside of their party lines for fear of political suicide.  Despite the voices of reason and fact, TV and radio commentators are ready to pounce on politicians if they do not adhere to their party expectations, or what has become as bastardization of their party values and beliefs.

I am not sure exactly how we solve this problem. We somehow have to find a way to overcome the fringe and the meaningless and repetitive TV/radio commentator dabble. We need to popularize science and reason, the way Carl Sagan and even Bill Nye had attempted to do. We need to educate our youth so they can be given the tools and resources needed to make their own opinions on issues. We need to grow from this, or I fear our country just may fall apart.

UPDATE (8/4/10):

A disturbing CNN poll reveals (ironically, on President Obama’s birthday) that about 25% of individuals do not believe he was born in the United States, despite all the evidence otherwise. From that poll, 85% of Democrats believe he was, while in contrast only 57% of Republicans have common sense. His birth certificate has been verified multiple times by the Republican governor of Hawaii, and his birth announcement can still be found in print. It’s astounding how pure rumor and groupthink have replaced science and reason.

Examples of Groupthink (YouTube links):

Health Care: No protestors interviewed regarding health care legislation able to cite actual specific reasons they are opposed to it.

Abortion: No protestors interviewed regarding abortion have considered what the punishment for women should be, in the event abortions become illegal.

Sarah Palin: Nobody knows why they support her.

I understand and acknowledge there are problems with these videos, including the likelihood those interviewed were picked selectively and those not showing the desired viewpoint were edited out. However, I believe even just these few clips are disturbing examples of Groupthink and conformity over individual thought and influence.