I think Kunstler nails it:
http://jameshowardkunstler.typepad.com/...
So, as a card-carrying Democrat and as a Progressive who would like to see his country successfully adapt to the changing realities of the world, I propose we stop making ourselves ridiculous by whining about being lied to, because we've only been lying to ourselves. We walked into the War to Save Suburbia with, as the old saying goes, our eyes wide shut.
I'd like to quote the whole thing, but go read it if you want more.
I agree. So much of America believed the lie not necessarily because of the media (although our media-- from Judy Miller to FAUX news-- is no better than a corporate propoganda organ).
And it isn't because the Neocon lie was so clever and believable. It wasn't. Their lies were obviously horseshit-- if we weren't suffering such denial about suburbia and our "easy-motoring way of life" as Kunstler puts it. Hell, we all saw through it. Why didn't the rest of America?
I noticed that half of America voted for Shrub. I also notice that half of America lives in suburbia. And I notice from the red/blue county maps-- they are the same people!
I think I've noted elsewhere that "What's the Matter with Kansas?" puzzled me. Frank's explanation left me unsatisfied; I don't believe Americans will vote too far from their economic self-interest even if they are bamboozled by religon, "culture", etc.
Kunstler made it clear for me: Shrub voters in suburbia were not voting against their economic self-interests, at least not in 2002 and 2004. They were absolutely voting for their self-interest: cheap oil. They didn't "believe a lie". They weren't "fooled". They did what made economic sense, albeit very short-term economic sense. That's why Rove et al focussed on "terrorism" as the issue: "War on Terrorism" being a code word for "killing Arabs and stealing their oil".
Red America knows damn well it needs that oil to put into their F-150 trucks and SUV's and suburban minivans. There's no public transit. They all own houses out in massive sprawling developments. And they voted for Shrub. It's no surprise.
What's more surprising is why Democrats in suburbia are voting Democratic! Indeed, a suburban homeowner with 2.5 kids, an SUV and a minivan, commuting 60 miles each way to work in the SUV and/or shuttling the kids around all day from one activity to another in the minivan, votes against his or her own economic interests by voting Democratic. The party seems to offer no alternative to oil-drenched suburbia; on energy issues it's not much better than Repug-lite.
Where's the Energy Independence Apollo Project? Where's the grand vision of massive government stimulus, entrepreneurial incentive, and industry partnership, to get us off of foreign oil? Where's the FDR-scale WPA-style project to build public transit in places where it's not cost-effective for municipalities to do on their own? Where's the government-funded project to build a national high-speed train system? The sweeping changes in building and zoning codes to rebuild American cities to make them more urban and reduce sprawl? These are all the kinds of things that Democrats are traditionally very good at. We could very easily put America back to work, just on any one of these projects. And build a stronger, more self-sufficient, more peaceful America as a result.
In short, show me where the Democratic Party is offering any more than just a more humble and lukewarm version of the Repug platform on energy.