I tend to agree that American voters are often very stupid.

[livingonearth]

I know for a fact many of them think Obama is a Communist Kenyan Muslim antichrist bent on bringing Ebola to America so he can put us all in FEMA camps. I have heard all of this from actual American voters.

[randys1]

1. TENS O MILLIONS of american voters HATE Obama for daring to be Black

and our president.

They believe all kinds of insane shit, and I know this for a fact.

I dont want to live on the same planet with them.

[Maedhros]

2. Not stupid - manipulated.

In our hyper-partisan political environment, where sneering screeds and self-righteous polemics say more than real analysis ever could, voters are encouraged to pick a side and defend it regardless of any cognitive dissonance that may arise. Couple that with wave upon wave of disingenuous advertising designed to rile up the emotional centers of the brain and suppress the analytical portions.

Votes aren't earned, they are harvested using mass media and group psychology.

[livingonearth]

4. Good point.

Manipulation is, unfortunately, very much a part of the process.

[Maedhros]

19. When we consider behavior at the polls that we deem "stupid,"

Last edited Thu Nov 20, 2014, 12:30 PM - Edit history (1)

it's important to realize that this "stupidity" has been carefully manufactured.

There is a reason that civics is no longer taught in the classroom. There is a reason that funding for all levels of education has been slashed, and for the skyrocketing costs of higher education. There is a reason that curricula have been pigeonholed and teachers' job performances are judged by how effectively they produce rote memorization of pre-approved information.

That reason is keeping the general populace distracted from and disinterested in the political process. To ensure that voters rely on emotional triggers, not facts. To train them to accept information uncritically from appointed "experts" and pundits.

Critical thinking slays fascism. Group think feeds it.

[simak]

3. Do you suppose those are the same voters who believed you'd be able to keep your plan? n/t

[livingonearth]

5. Did you lose your plan?

I kept mine, and so did a lot of folks I know. I now even know people who have new plans that were better than their old ones. Try looking on the Obamacare website if you are having trouble. It's working a lot better now.

[simak]

7. Personally? No. But I know people who did. And I sure didn't save $2500. n/t

[livingonearth]

10. I'm glad you didn't lose your plan.

Any new legislation as huge as "Obamacare" is bound to have some snags, and yes people may have been dropped because their old policies didn't fit the new law, but I do not think Obama was intentional trying to lie to us with the "keep your plan" statement.
Have any of those you know who lost their plans tried to look for something under Obamacare?

[MineralMan]

6. Are you an American voter?

Do you think those things? Who is it that you agree with?

[livingonearth]

8. No, I myself don't. But, plenty of folks out there do, and they vote.

[MineralMan]

9. Well, you'll probably be better off talking

About your own positions, rather than some stereotype. Tell us about what you believe to be important. Again, though, are you an American voter?

[livingonearth]

11. My position is that there are voters who think

Obama is all of the things I mentioned in my original post. I have heard it with my own ears. This is something I have never heard about any other president in history. I wish this was not so, but it is.

[MineralMan]

12. You have still not answered my original question.

Are you an American voter?

[livingonearth]

13. Sorry, yes I am an American voter.

I am not one who believes that Obama is a Communist Kenyan Muslim antichrist bent on bringing Ebola to America so he can put us all in FEMA camps.

[MineralMan]

15. OK. Are you often very stupid?

See, you need a qualifier in your post title for it to make any real sense. "Some" American voters...

[livingonearth]

17. Oh, I see what you're saying.

Yes, a qualifier would be good. I made the mistake of assuming it would be taken from the word "many" I had in the original post("many" meaning a lot, but not all). I see your point, however.

[elias49]

16. WTF? If you're livingonearth,

I'd like to know what part. From your syntax, I get the feeling you're from somewhere far from the US.
Seems to be a group of folks posting oddly-worded insinuations lately...boilerplate stuff intended to cloud or redirect progressive conversations. It's scarystuffyo....if you know what I mean. Maybe from the same part of the world as you!!

[livingonearth]

18. It's not like that at all.

I'm just poking fun at the Rights' outrage about the recent Jonathan Gruber comments. In other words, if you're going to get offended when voters are called stupid, don't forget all the crazy conspiracies about Obama over the years. Maybe I should have used the sarcasm sign.

[frazzled]

14. Well, as our dear former Secretary of Defense once said

"Democracy is messy."

Still, a messy democracy I suppose is better than a totalitarian state (even a benevolent one). That said, I'm glad we have a representative democracy as opposed to a direct one; our founding fore-daddies foresaw that the electorate might be pretty stupid at times. It's why I don't like binding referenda. Non-binding opinion votes are fine, but California-style referenda that force legislators to adopt horrendous laws like Prop 8 are not a good idea.