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The GOP displays cynicism, not brilliance
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How "brilliant" it was, according to Dick Polman ("Sabotaging Obama," June 13), for Republicans to allow Barack Obama to set his foot in the bear trap by allowing him to propose a jobs bill, thereby assuming some responsibility for the economic situation and then to snap that trap shut by "dynamiting" anything that could work and then by obfuscation to escape any of the consequences for that sabotage.
However, as we read further in the column we find that the real basis for that strategy's success, its "brilliance" relies on the fact that "voters typically pay scant attention to the play-by-play in Washington." In light of this I wonder if "brilliance" is the right adjective for pulling the wool over the American public's eyes. Perhaps "cynical" would be a better choice.
The basis of that cynicism is to access how little the voter knows; how easy it is to play on fears, prejudices, resentments; how gullible the public is to the big lie; how easy it is to change public opinion with 30-second political ads, the more negative the better.
Is it "brilliant" for Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal to say Mr. Obama has America "lurching" toward European-style socialism; for U.S. Rep. Allen West of Florida to call Democrats in his chamber "Communists"; for Mitch McConnell to say that Mr. Obama is attacking capitalism?
I suppose that the lower your opinion of the average voter's intelligence and his ability to make an informed and thoughtful decision, the more "brilliant" such lies, demagoguery and deception become as political strategies. If not "brilliant" at least "realistic."
TOM AMMONS
Hampton
First Published June 22, 2012 12:00 am
