Note: This diary was originally planned for publication 2 weeks ago, but due to technical glitches and some things called "work" and "life," which have an unfortunate habit of interfering with my dKos addiction, I was forced to delay it. So, I'm now finally publishing it with a few twists.
I'm about to stand logic on its head and say something so staggeringly stupid that the only way to defend myself is to hide behind my medical degree and insist I can't say stupid things, because I'm the great Dr. Carson
Ben Carson has said some really dumb things over the past few weeks. How dumb? So dumb that he and his defenders have to constantly reference his medical degree and call him "Dr. Carson," just to remind us that he was not always as dumb as he sounds right now. But, even if he's not a dumb guy in general, he's certainly not a competent politician. It's just sad to have to hide behind a medical degree, and become the world's foremost embodiment of the fallacy of misplaced authority, by acting like your credentials are a magic shield that prevents you from saying dumb things.
So, let's take a look at one of the dumbest things he's said to date: His claim that if the Jews had guns, Hitler might not have been able to round them up, and the Holocaust would have been "greatly diminished." It is staggeringly stupid to think that an enormous military machine, which was able to take on France, Britain, the Soviet Union, and the United States, more or less simultaneously, would have been stopped by a few citizens with guns. So, I've got a question for you, Ben:
Japanese Americans had the right to own guns, so did that stop them from being interned by the U.S. government during World War II?
Of course not. Even in the good ol' gun-crazy USA, when the government comes for you, they'll get you. No question about it...except in the fever brains of the gun fetish crowd, who somehow believe that having a gun means the government has to do what they say or else...second American Revolution...derp a'derp.
Sorry, but when the most powerful military on the planet comes for you, you don't pull out your pea shooter and shoot it out with their drones...and their attack helicopters...and their tanks...oh my! Nope, you come quietly, just like the Japanese Americans did, or you come in handcuffs, or you come with tag on your toe. One way or another, you'll come, and your gun will do nothing but increase your chances of coming in one of the later categories, instead of the former.
So, it really is stupid for Carson to be to saying this and even more so for his followers to be to believing it. But, it's actually not just Carson following what I call the Stupidity Formula. There is a growing and very dangerous trend of letting politicians get away with saying stupid, crazy, outrageous things and thinking that this is just the new normal, particularly for right wing politicians.
The rise of stupid-talk and crazy-talk as a mainstay of today's right wing has become so prevalent that even right wingers like Bobby Jindal have cautioned his fellow Republicans to try not to become the stupid party. Too late, BJ. They're way ahead of you.
So, how did we get here and why is it so dangerous? Follow me past the giant orange emoji of jaw-dropping WTF, and we will elucidate this further, along with a modest proposal of what to do about it.
First of all, lets take a step back for a minute to an important underlying issue. Have you ever noticed how people like Donald Trump are always decrying "political correctness," but he seems to only speak bluntly about people and things he doesn't like? He has a very finely tuned sense of butthurt anytime people use similarly blunt language about him. I would argue that the problem today is not that we are too politically correct about everything. It is that we sometimes give inappropriate respect and extend inappropriate civility to people or things that do not deserve such respect. In fact, they often deserve ridicule, but we usually shy away from that as the immediate and proper response.
Perhaps the problem arises out of a sense of fair play; hearing all sides, even when one side clearly does not have nearly the same grasp on the facts as the other. A frequent example of this is when we see the claims of Global Warming Deniers put up against meticulously examined scientific data. This creates a false equivalency, making many in the public think that the views of pseudo-energy-expert Sarah Palin are just as valid as the most accomplished experts in the field.
But, despite the mind-bogglingly stupid things that politicians say, how do we respond? I think we use something called the Political Civility Formula: Don't call them names. Be civil. Treat everyone with "respect," even if they are saying idiotic and hateful things, spewing venom all over everyone around them. If an interviewer or other panel guest said "that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard," we'd hear endless wailing and moaning about "liberal media bias." But, it's ok for the right wingers to casually throw around accusations of people being "terrorists," or "traitors," or "unpatriotic." It's become acceptable for them to just nonchalantly mix their venomous insults into the discourse. But, when the very same right wingers, who are always crying about being attacked and always claiming the mantle of patriotism, when they get attacked with the same kind of language they use about everyone else, then it's shocking.
So, the Political Civility Formula is not working, and I think it's taking us to an extremely dangerous place. If we let stupid, extreme, destructive things be said and we can't challenge them with every bit the same force and passion as the asinine imbeciles who said them, we will lose our Democracy.
Here's why. If you cannot effectively and forcefully challenge outrageous lies, then it makes the outrageous acceptable, or at least partially acceptable within the discourse. Then, they tell more lies. Again, you can't completely ban them or ridicule them, so some people will believe them. Little by little, the Overton Window shifts to where outrageous extremism now becomes common place. Who knows, some day they may even be able to bring down one and half Speakers of the House.
So, here's what I propose. It is obviously just the first step, but I'm calling it Howard Beale Therapy for Republicanism. You can watch along with the video and then insert the alternative text at the end:
I want you to get mad. I want you to get up right now and go to the window, open it, and stick your head out and yell:
"I'm mad as hell about Republican stupidity and I'm not going take this anymore."