Just finished listening to Time's Michael Ware on Newsnight. Yeah, it's mainstream, but that's the point. This is where the non-blogging get their news. He talked about going into Fallujah with the Marines and yeah, he's embedded and all that, but he was quite blunt: we are incubating the next generation of jihadis, he said, and these young men are dying for it. And I found myself thinking, for the millionth time, IF ONLY more people could hear this, IF ONLY this guy were on every Sunday morning talk show and nightly news broadcast, if only, if only. But who am I kidding? I live in the reality-based world.
I keep thinking that if enough reality piles up like the proverbial elephant in the living room, and if enough people get up and tell the truth, and if enough (other) people get it shoved in their faces, SURELY they will see how bad things are. They will see the failed occupation and the health care crisis and the authoritarian, dishonest, corrupt nature of this administration. And like a sleeping giant they will rise up to gloriously boot the collective ass of the House of Bush.
But who am I kidding?
You can't force someone to look at the truth. I'm not talking about some great esoteric Truth here either; I'm talking about objective reality. I have to somehow get my head around the fact that millions of my fellow citizens don't want to face reality. Because surely they can't all be that stupid.
A 2003 study has some interesting findings which may or may not be relevant. I distrust generalizations, especially when they mesh so neatly with my suspicions.
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