AMERICAN STUPIDITY: THE SEARCH FOR A CURE

Reuters asks:  "You know anybody who needs an anti-stupid pill?"

A German scientist has been testing an "anti-stupidity" pill with encouraging results on mice and fruit flies.

The Max-Planck-Institute for Molecular Genetics in Berlin has tested a pill thwarting hyperactivity in certain brain nerve cells, helping stabilize short-term memory and improve attentiveness.

"With mice and fruit flies we were able to eliminate the loss of short-term memory," the researcher is quoted saying in a German newspaper, which has dubbed it the "world's first anti-stupidity pill."

Coincidentally, it may be that this pill is arriving just in time to save America from itself.

In related news, the Associated Press reports that half of Americans still believe Iraq has weapons of mass destruction.

According to a new Harris Poll a full 50 percent of Americans--up from 36 percent last year--said they believe Iraq did have the forbidden arms when we invaded in March 2003.  Apparently half of our countrymen have an enduring faith in the WMD story.

Experts see a raft of reasons why: a drumbeat of voices from talk radio to die-hard bloggers to the Oval Office, a surprise headline here or there, a rallying around a partisan flag, and a growing need for people, in their own minds, to justify the war in Iraq.

People tend to become "independent of reality" in these circumstances, says opinion analyst Steven Kull.

The reality in this case is that after a 16-month, $900-million-plus investigation, the U.S. weapons hunters known as the Iraq Survey Group declared that Iraq had dismantled its chemical, biological and nuclear arms programs in 1991 under U.N. oversight. That finding in 2004 reaffirmed the work of U.N. inspectors who in 2002-03 found no trace of banned arsenals in Iraq.

But Bush lied to Congress and the American people and said the weapons did exist based on his "faith" which triumphed over reason and fact.

In fact, despite the hard facts, Bush and some members of Congress continue to refer to WMD directly and indirectly on the assumption that Americans are mostly idiots and will believe most anything they are told.  Clearly, at least half of us are blithering idiots.

Frankly, believing in Iraqi WMD's seems like a minor delusion for the more than half of our fellow countrymen who believe in creationism, who believe that dinosaurs and men co-existed and  who believe that a supernatural old fart personally dictated the Bible word for word.

And too many Americans simply can't accept the idea that our President lies through his teeth at every opportunity.

A big part of the responsibility for popular acceptance of White House dishonesty lies with pundits and the media who lack the ethics and courage to speak plainly and honestly themselves.

When asked if the President lies, one expert explained:  "It doesn't surprise me when presidents reconstruct reality to make their policies defensible.  This president may even have convinced himself it's true."

It's language like that that leaves me with a feeling of extreme contempt for many scholars, experts and thought leaders.  The asshole lied. Period.  Say it plainly. And claiming that he's deluded and believes his own lies is not in my view any kind of defense although perhaps it's grounds for commitment.

The American people need to hear plain truth, not obfuscations, excuses and "reconstructions."

Furthermore, our media has also failed--to the point of betrayal-- in its responsibility to provide that truth.  The so-called liberal media delivers watered-down pablum and the conservative media, like Fox simply breaks the law and lies to the public.

The other day as Israeli troops and Hezbollah guerrillas battled in Lebanon, a Fox News segment suggested, with no evidence, yet another destination for the non-existent doomsday arms.

"ARE SADDAM HUSSEIN'S WMDS NOW IN HEZBOLLAH'S HANDS?" asked the headline, lingering for long minutes on TV screens in a million American homes.

In another America, a law-abiding America, Fox would have lost its license to broadcast a long time ago and our president would have been impeached.

In the 1940s we saved Germany from it's case of near-terminal stupidity; perhaps some German scientists will now return the favor.

Comments

[Greg]

As much as I like your blog, it amazes me that you can constantly find ways to disrespect Christian beliefs: "who believe that a supernatural old fart personally dictated the Bible word for word." Why are Jewish beliefs correct and believeable and Christian are not? You make good points when it comes to politics, but too often you combine religion with YOUR religious views and, frankly, I think most would agree that the Jewish faith is as believeable as the Christian, the Hindu, the Buddist and, yes, even the Scientologist. So, because it's your blog and your rant, holding your view up as though it is THEE correct view puts you in the same category as George W. Bush. There is no question that Bush and his followers make Christians look bad, but could you not bash all of us, just because Bush is an idiot and because you're Jewish? Thanks in advance ... I hope.

RICHARD COMMENTS: As I've said to other readers, you get an "F" in reading comprehension...actually, in your case an "F -".

1. I'm on the record for being critical of all organized religions. As it turns out a large percentage of American Christians are working to destroy our democracy--so they get my special attention.

2. Your personal ignorance and arrogance leads you to think that when I refer to "The Bible" I'm talking about a Christian book. The Bible is the holy book of Judaism. The Christian book is The New Testament. Like many of your kind (the wilffuly uninformed and arrogant) you assume that The Bible is a Christian book.

3. Anyone--and I mean anyone--who thinks that any "book" is the literal word of a supernaturla being is an idiot.

4. Like the arrogant idiots who think The bible is a Christian book, you also wallow in igrnorance when it comes to Jews. There is a big difference between Jews and the Jewish religion. Diaspora (big word, go look it up) Jews are descended from the nation that was exiled by the Babylonians and the Romans, and they are very proud (including myself) of our history and heritage. However, I do not practice the Jewish religion. Israel is a secular state founded primarily by atheists. And the knowledge level of non-Christians among most American Christians is appalling.

5. Go get an education before you comment again on my blog. It's to be found in books of facts and reason.

[DoctorWankenstein]

Nice essay! Loved the link between the intro and the closing!

[Greg]

Obviously, I hit a nerve with the old queen.

Frankly, dearie, your response is so rife with errors and poor grammar, I can't believe you would suggest someone other than yourself needs to go back to school.

The bottom line is this: When you publish your opinion you open yourself up for response.If you don't like that, shut up.

And if I don't like what you have to say, I can stop reading your blog. That, I'm sure, is what you prefer: Who needs or gives a shit about readers, right? They are merely a nuisance. I wonder, if you bitch and moan about everything and no one hears you, what's the point of bitching and moaning?

Well, Doc, you go out and keep trolling for dollars for your pay site. I, for one, will not be visiting either.