Remember George W. Bush? A mediocre buffoon who plunged the country into illegal wars, presided over the dismantling of U.S. constitutional protections, and the use of torture, and the day-light robbery of the national treasury by Wall Street. The list goes on and on. He became president two times in this country.
Reader, which part of the country do you reside in? Try this mental exercise... Go to "Main Street" or "Broadway Ave." or to the shopping center. Gather ten people at random and ask them to comment on three important issues of the day. Pay attention to their level of understanding, common sense, objectivity, accuracy, analytical thinking.
Or as Matt Taibbi recently wrote in his Rolling Stone magazine article "Michele Bachmann's Holy War":
Snickering readers in New York or Los Angeles might be tempted by all of this to conclude that Bachmann is uniquely crazy. But in fact, such tales by Bachmann work precisely because there are a great many people in America just like Bachmann, people who believe that God tells them what condiments to put on their hamburgers, who can't tell the difference between Soviet Communism and a Stafford loan, but can certainly tell the difference between being mocked and being taken seriously. When you laugh at Michele Bachmann for going on MSNBC and blurting out that the moon is made of red communist cheese, these people don't learn that she is wrong. What they learn is that you're a dick, that they hate you more than ever, and that they're even more determined now to support anyone who promises not to laugh at their own visions and fantasies.
I assume that a lot of intelligent progressive liberals already know this, but just in case (and because sometimes I wonder), when it comes to politics, reasoned arguments, facts, empirical evidence, science, truth, justice, and fairness are secondary. Right? You must know that by now. It's obvious.
And then there is another added phenomena. Religious fundamentalism is a mental disease (IMO). However, people who suffer from it could be characterized as "functional" and so they walk and talk and move, and work amongst the sane (again, in my opinion).
By its nature, a religious fundamentalist exhibits certain detachment from reason, reality, and objectivity. And thus, they are very easy to manipulate. That's been the case throughout human history.
Enter the Neo-fascist Corporatist Ruling Class that is right now consolidating their hold on the country (as you read this). They are primarily motivated by unimaginable and unquenchable greed and power lust. Their task is pretty easy because they band together under a very well-defined core set of "principles."
Obviously, they don't see themselves as the "evil incarnate" that they are. To the contrary, they see themselves as noble, and deserving, and principled.
In order to justify that self-assessment they develop certain philosophies, inspired by people like Ayn Rand, and Leo Strauss. I'm not going to get too deep into this in this diary for brevity's sake, but suffice it to say that a lot of what's behind their philosophies touches on Social Darwinism and Eugenics, among other things.
Here's where the "godless" neo-fascist corporatist and the fanatic religious fundamentalist converge (to the detriment of the country and the world).
The puritanical legacy (which has an immense influence in the American psyche), imbues the sufferer with a righteous believe that God will bless His obedient followers with riches and health and salvation.
In the American style puritanical thought, the afflicted believes that wealth and good fortune are the direct result of hard work, and religious piety. And thus, poverty, and suffering are the result of sin.
So in a way, a very important aspect of both factions' (the neo fascist corporatist ruling class that is consolidating power in this country as you read this, and the religious fundamentalist) world-view coincide.
The rest is easy... The Neo-fascist ruling class consolidating power in the country are not crazy. They are incredibly smart (of course). So in order to advance their interests they have taken over the entire government (a process that took over four decades and several "shock doctrine-type" events), and very importantly, the media (which is used as the most effective and powerful propaganda machine ever seen in history).
And since the millions and millions of religious fundamentalists that are crazy, but functional, are easy to manipulate as long as you validate their most fundamental beliefs, all the smart Neo-fascist ruling elite has to do is pretend to align themselves with their values (hard work piety leads to blessings and riches), and you have yourself (Neo-fascist ruling class) an entire army of so-called "useful idiots."
Enter Michele Bachmann... There is no more perfect convergence of these two factions than her. So no matter how many stupid things she says, or how many inaccuracies are reported by PoliTifact, as she marches on, her popularity is going to increase significantly and she will become a very powerful contender for the presidency of the United States.
And again, she has what it takes to win in politics (and in anything, really). She exhibits conviction, zealotry, extreme focus, and the most important aspect of all: A "titanium backbone". Something sorely missing on the left, and especially in the Democratic party.
Finally, let me close by using a quote from one of my previous diaries:
The first thing to understand is that in order to have any real traction there needs to be a progressive movement unified by a very small set of core principles and values.
I know people say that that's not easy to do with "intelligent" people who do not march lockstep to anybody's drumbeat, etc. I beg to differ. It's possible. It has happened in the past, and it can happen again.
When it comes to social movements and political power, please understand that all issues related to reason, justice, empirical evidence, and intellect are secondary. In fact, some would say that those are the issues of the [limousine] liberal elite.
In order to win, what a movement needs is conviction, passion, and zealotry. Without that, you may as well hang it up now.
And it should not be that hard to do... For example, the conviction and passion in people needs to be elicited via an understanding that we are in an existential struggle. It needs to be framed in the context of good vs. evil (because it is). It needs to reach deep into the "soul" of people and touch them in the most intimate and passionate manner, so when they hear the battle cry, or see your "banner", or sing your battle song, they are moved to the core with emotion, with the willingness to march ahead and put everything on the line. Because that is what's going to take to defeat the evil that's arisen in our country.