What's Our Problem?

I am so pissed. America doesn't think anymore. My fellow Americans are not stupid. Perhaps if they were, all this silliness could be excused. I am pissed because my fellow Americans are - increasingly - willfully ignorant.

The stunning ignorance of our elected representatives is on display once again. Representative Michele Bachmann has confidently declared that all of our Founding Fathers were resolutely opposed to slavery and worked tirelessly to end it. This is blatantly false, as many Founding Fathers owned slaves, and the Constitution, albeit for purposes of political compromise, implies that slaves were each 3/5 of a person.

Meanwhile, Sean Hannity invited a radical Muslim cleric onto his show only to shout over the man. Rather than engage a representative of a large and growing segment of the world's population, Mr. Hannity opted to retire to a few simplistic points while his "guest" calmly attempted nuanced argument in support of what could have been interesting points. In a microcosm of the entire interview, the end featured the cleric calmly stating Mr. Hannity was acting immaturely but that he wished for a more substantive conversation in the future. Mr. Hannity called the man a "sick, miserable, evil SOB." Whether this is true or not, who would an impartial viewer sympathize with? For that matter, has the cleric come away with an understanding and respect for an alternative viewpoint?

I find this troubling not because I believe the cleric to be a good man. I haven't the slightest idea, thanks to Mr. Hannity's diatribe poorly masked as an interview. I find this troubling because I could write all day and night about incidences of public figures or officials displaying strikingly stunning ignorance or an apparent allergy to anything accept total agreement with any point s/he makes.



I wish desperately for the attitude of Ed Koch, who once said "if you agree with me on 9 out of 12 issues, vote for me. If you agree with me on 12 out of 12 issues, see a psychiatrist." Well, we need a psychiatrist and we need a history lesson united by the common theme of "I may not agree with what you have to say sir, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."

No, actually we just need a history lesson. Let history teachers march on Washington! Let them set up a podium and lecture Congress all day for a week. Perhaps then we will be reunited with our historical ideal, if not always practiced, of listening to each other. Let us be reunited with the idea that history, for better or worse, must be acknowledged so that the future can be better.

We cannot continue to allow people to get away with stunning ignorance and allergy to thought. This cannot be a recipe for success in this county. The Sean Hannitys and Michele Bachmanns must experience nothing less than ridicule for taking their damaging predilections to public office and the public debate. They must be ridiculed for embarrassing us as Americans.

Thought has become passe and this must change by whatever means necessary. Otherwise,
the United States is no longer exceptional and we will continue to live through the downfall of the great American era.