The Luxury of Nonsense
Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education.
-Franklin D. Roosevelt
Dunno how it is in your neck of the woods, but whenever I see a headline that starts with “Georgia Representative…” I flinch. Being a native of the southland I’ve become sadly accustomed to the follies of our elected “leaders”. Georgia was recently under the siege of Governor Sonny Perdue, a theocratic asshat who had so little respect for his subjects that we weren’t even allowed the chance to vote on Sunday alcohol sales, much less go out and actually purchase a six pack in a grocery store on THE LORDS DAY. So when I read about Bobby Franklin introducing legislation that would force taxpayers to only use gold and silver for all transactions in the state, I sadly wasn’t surprised.
Franklin represents a rather well off area of Cobb County, and I have to wonder- how has this buffoon managed to keep getting reelected since 1997? This year alone he’s wanted to return Georgia to the gold standard, to institute his version of Sharia, change the word “victim” to “accuser” in cases of rape, stalking etc, and abolish the state income tax. Of course none of this idiocy becomes law- he generally is only able to get passed meaningless proclamations of “Psychology Day” and such. His bio states the following:
Representative Franklin has been called “the conscience of the Republican Caucus” because he believes that civil government should return to its biblically and constitutionally defined role. </em>
So year after year, Cobb County residents cast their votes to return this pious pinhead to the legislature, despite his inability to actually do anything but mouth meaningless platitudes. And they aren’t alone- John Boehner vows to open each House session with a reading of the Constitution, among other Tea Party demands- all feel good gibberish meant to quiet the rabble without actually doing anything about anything. Our media is filled with story after story about an economy in the ditch, two endless wars swallow resources and bodies, and Wall Street continues to suck the very marrow from our bones, but apparently, things are actually pretty ok. Because societies in decline don’t have the time or energy to be this silly, do they?
Nonsense is a luxury. For all the horror stories, the residents of Rep. Franklin most likely still have jobs, their bridges haven’t crumbled below the tires of their minivans, and the hospitals in District 43 are probably well-staffed and have all the resources they need. So, they really aren’t suffering too much, at least not enough to actually elect someone to face reality and lead. No, they are fat and happy enough to elect a cheerleader- no more, no less. Now cheerleaders don’t block tackles, or throw the ball- in fact, they do nothing meaningful at all, truth be told, but my, they are pleasant to watch and they swell the soul with pride. They aren’t essential to the actual functioning of a team- and neither are the likes of Bobby Franklin, or Rand Paul, or any of the Tea Party sign wavers who managed to get elected this time around. They’ll introduce legislation to repeal the Health Care bill, or defund NPR, knowing full well that Obama will veto all of it, just so they can return home to make speeches and fleece the rabble for yet another round of fundraising with the rallying cry of “we’ll get ‘em next time” and “we’re holding them accountable!” all the while the rich get richer, people continue to lose their homes and jobs- but apparently not enough of them to actually get anything done.
So instead of taking to the streets demanding change, they march to see Obama’s birth certificate. Instead of devoting coverage to veterans chained to the White House fence to bring an end to our folly in Afghanistan, we get another round of Sarah Palin babble, as if she actually means anything at all in the big scheme of things. No, nonsense is a luxury only the well off can afford. So, until the reality of our dire situation actually lands in the pews of upscale Cobb County churches, or the government stops paying for Medicare scooters, our country will continue to wallow in the comforting balm of silly slogans and useless cheerleaders.
Our nation has lost its educational and technical edge to countries such as China and India in large part because we’re obsessed by short term profits over long term stability, amusement over education, and meaningless flag waving over substantial change. And as long as non-stories such as the Ground Zero Mosque or the fevered insanity that is Glenn Beck continue to dominate our national discourse, things will never change. We’ll just get dumber, and more broke, until finally, one day, we won’t be rich and idle enough to enjoy the warm fuzzies of nonsense. And we’ll awaken to a nation too stupid to elect real leaders, and too obsessed with trivia to even understand the issues we face.
But we kept the heathens from buying beer on Sunday, that counts for something, don’t it?
