Something’s afoot when Karl Rove is hired by a news network and reverently referred to as “The Architect” by its anchors. Never mind that the man he got elected President set a new standard for incompetence. Or when a Presidential candidate can say “In the 21st century, nations don’t invade other nations” with a straight face and with a camera rolling. Do we suffer from collective short-term memory loss, are we not paying attention, or (worst of all) have we lost our ability to tolerate details?
Whatever the case, with ten weeks to go before the Presidential election the same tactics are being used by both sides simplify complex policy discussions into vapid arguments about who would better “stand up to Big Oil” or “pursue Osama bin Laden to the gates of Hell.” But could the real issues be presented as if David Hasselhoff was judging the contestants and the viewers at home were texting in their favorites? Here’s my attempt at it:
Gas Prices: Why isn’t the rest of the rich world complaining as loudly about the skyrocketing prices of gas and airfares? Because they’ve spent the last forty years building reliable and fast ways of getting around that aren’t based on the premise of cheap oil. We chose to sprawl, and now we pay. Text $4.00 if you’d like to join the 4.7% of Americans that read a paper or took a nap as they took mass transit to work, while you enjoyed the freedom of sitting in traffic.
Healthcare: There’s a hidden tax of 15% on your paycheck that pays to treat everyone in America who’s sick (whether they have insurance or walked into an ER after being shot in a gang war). The Europeans and the Japanese spend far less than we do, and live longer to boot. Text 911 if you’d like to deliver a swift kick in the ass to the corporate interests who pay politicians to pretend there isn’t a problem.
“Family Values”: What can the government do to prevent two men or two women from spending their lives living together? Prevent divorce? Make parents love their kids? The answer: nothing. But that doesn’t stop politicians and the media from their endless wallowing on issues that have precious little impact on how government can improve (or worsen) everyday life. Text 001 if you’d rather the government focus on making sure our drinking water’s clean and school roofs don’t leak. Or if you’d prefer that the national discourse be dominated by the issues that are custom designed to divide and distract us, sit back and relax.
The Architect will take it from here.
1 comment:
Your fictional scenario of David Hasselhoff judging the presidential candidates with the viewers at home texting in their favorites is actually a great idea. If implemented, it may persuade our fellow citizens and the media to finally come to grips with the real issues and the underlying complexity. Or is that a wishful thinking?
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