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   From: lake4003@yahoo.nospam.com   
      
   Why Americans Hate Democrats-A Dialogue   
   The unteachable ignorance of the red states.   
   By Jane Smiley   
   Updated Thursday, Nov. 4, 2004, at 3:24 PM PT   
      
      
   The day after the election, Slate's political writers tackled   
   the question of why the Democratic Party-which has now   
   lost five of the past seven presidential elections and   
   solidified its minority status in Congress-keeps losing   
   elections. Chris Suellentrop says that John Kerry was too   
   nuanced and technocratic, while George W. Bush offered   
   a vision of expanding freedom around the world.   
   William Saletan argues that Democratic candidates won't   
   win until they again cast their policies the way Bill Clinton   
   did, in terms of values and moral responsibility. Timothy   
   Noah contends that none of the familiar advice to the   
    party-move right, move left, or sit tight-seems likely   
   to help. Slate asked a number of wise liberals to take   
   up the question of why Americans won't vote for the   
   Democrats.   
      
   I say forget introspection. It's time to be honest about   
   our antagonists. My predecessors in this conversation   
   are thoughtful men, and I honor their ideas, but let's   
   try something else. I grew up in Missouri and most   
   of my family voted for Bush, so I am going to be the   
   one to say it: The election results reflect the decision   
   of the right wing to cultivate and exploit ignorance in   
   the citizenry. I suppose the good news is that 55 million   
   Americans have evaded the ignorance-inducing machine.   
   But 58 million have not. (Well, almost 58 million-   
   my relatives are not ignorant, they are just greedy   
   and full of classic Republican feelings of superiority.)   
      
   Ignorance and bloodlust have a long tradition in the   
   United States, especially in the red states. There used   
   to be a kind of hand-to-hand fight on the frontier called   
   a "knock-down-drag-out," where any kind of gouging,   
   biting, or maiming was considered fair. The ancestors   
   of today's red-state voters used to stand around   
   cheering and betting on these fights. When the forces of   
   red and blue encountered one another head-on for the   
   first time in Kansas Territory in 1856, the red forces   
   from Missouri, who had been coveting Indian land across   
   the Missouri River since 1820, entered Kansas and   
   stole the territorial election. The red news media of the   
   day made a practice of inflammatory lying-declaring   
   that the blue folks had shot and killed red folks whom   
   everyone knew were walking around. The worst civilian   
   massacre in American history took place in   
   Lawrence, Kan., in 1862-Quantrill's raid. The red   
   forces, known then as the slave-power, pulled 265 unarmed   
    men from their beds on a Sunday morning and slaughtered   
   them in front of their wives and children. The error that   
   progressives have consistently committed over the years   
   is to underestimate the vitality of ignorance in America.   
   Listen to what the red state citizens say about   
   themselves, the songs they write, and the sermons they   
   flock to. They know who they are-they are full of original   
   sin and they have a taste for violence. The blue state citizens   
    make the Rousseauvian mistake of thinking humans   
   are essentially good, and so they never realize when   
   they are about to be slugged from behind.   
      
   Here is how ignorance works: First, they put the fear of   
   God into you-if you don't believe in the literal word   
   of the Bible, you will burn in hell. Of course, the literal   
   word of the Bible is tremendously contradictory, and   
   so you must abdicate all critical thinking, and accept a   
   simple but logical system of belief that is dangerous to   
   question. A corollary to this point is that they make   
   sure you understand that Satan resides in the toils   
   and snares of complex thought and so it is best not try it.   
      
   Next, they tell you that you are the best of a bad lot   
   (humans, that is) and that as bad as you are, if you stick   
   with them, you are among the chosen. This is flattering   
   and reassuring, and also encourages you to imagine the   
   terrible fates of those you envy and resent. American   
    politicians ALWAYS operate by a similar sort of   
   flattery, and so Americans are never induced to   
   question themselves. That's what happened to   
   Jimmy Carter-he asked Americans to take responsibility   
   for their profligate ways, and promptly lost to   
   Ronald Reagan, who told them once again that they could   
   do anything they wanted. The history of the last four   
   years shows that red state types, above all, do not want   
   to be told what to do-they prefer to be ignorant.   
   As a result, they are virtually unteachable.   
      
   Third, and most important, when life grows difficult or   
   fearsome, they (politicians, preachers, pundits)   
   encourage you to cling to your ignorance with even more   
   fervor. But by this time you don't need much   
   encouragement-you've put all your eggs into the ignorance   
   basket, and really, some kind of miraculous fruition   
   (preferably accompanied by the torment of your enemies,   
   and the ignorant always have plenty of enemies) is your   
   only hope. If you are sufficiently ignorant, you won't even   
   know how dangerous your policies are until they have   
   destroyed you, and then you can always blame others.   
      
   The reason the Democrats have lost five of the last seven   
   presidential elections is simple: A generation ago,   
    the big capitalists, who have no morals, as we know,   
   decided to make use of the religious right in their class war   
   against the middle class and against the regulations that   
   were protecting those whom they considered to be their   
   rightful prey-workers and consumers. The architects   
   of this strategy knew perfectly well that they were exploiting,   
   among other unsavory qualities, a long American habit of   
   virulent racism, but they did it anyway, and we see the   
   outcome now-Cheney is the capitalist arm and Bush   
   is the religious arm. They know no boundaries or rules.   
   They are predatory and resentful, amoral, avaricious,   
   and arrogant. Lots of Americans like and admire them   
   because lots of Americans, even those who don't share   
   those same qualities, don't know which end is up.   
   Can the Democrats appeal to such voters? Do they   
   want to? The Republicans have sold their souls for power.   
   Must everyone?   
      
   Progressives have only one course of action now: React   
   quickly to every outrage-red state types love to cheat   
   and intimidate, so we have to assume the worst and call   
   them on it every time. We have to give them more to   
    think about than they can handle-to always appeal to   
    reason and common sense, and the law, even when   
    they can't understand it and don't respond. They cannot be   
    allowed to keep any secrets. Tens of millions of people   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)