The Politics of the Ridiculous

The history of the United States is a history of political strife, often bitter arguments about what to do and which way to go. While the current period may not be unique historically speaking, it might have reached a level of division which is a new low water mark. I am referring to what I think is the fact that many Americans, perhaps a significant majority, believe that the program of the right, as represented by the Republican Party, is simply ridiculous.

The media and the Democratic Party treat Republican "ideas" as if they are somehow viable alternatives, but we, the people, see them as total nonsense and lacking in either factual basis or rational underpinning. Let's start with the economy. The mantra is that the budget cannot be balanced without cutting "entitlements," Medicare and Social Security. The first nonsense here is that the United States does not have unmanageably large budget deficits. That is just a fact and one which they make no attempt to refute. The second nonsense is the idea that Social Security has any relationship to the budget deficit. It doesn't, and everyone knows that it doesn't. Concerning Medicare, it's well-known that moving to a comprehensive single-payer system which cuts out insurance company profits and negotiates much lower costs for prescription drugs would address most, if not all, of the issues of our runaway medical costs. Finally, we can certainly reduce budget deficits by slashing the bloated military budget and ending the ridiculous war in Afghanistan. Such steps would actually increase our national security and not diminish it. On taxes, although they successfully fought a holding action, the ridiculousness of Republican talk of "job creators" is so obvious that they had to give in on modest tax increases for the superrich.

Let us next look at global warming. The Republican attack on science has made them a laughingstock. Not only do they block investment in green technology, but they also use their rejection of science to try to deny rights to women such as the right to choose whether to continue a pregnancy or not. The chair of the House Science Committee is so ill-educated on science that he spouted total nonsense during the 2012 campaign.

We have had many figures who make careers in exposing the ridiculous from Mark Twain and Will Rogers to George Carlin to Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. But that can be undone when ridiculous ideas are treated as if they are sensible by the news media, not just Fox and CNN but also NPR. To report on ridiculous assertions and not say they are ridiculous is irresponsible and isn't journalism at all. To report on claims which are obviously contrary to well-known facts and not to say so is to engage in partisan journalism.  Responsible journalists, when confronted with policians saying ridiculous things, should also expose the ridiculous. Our national political discussions have sunk to a low level, indeed, when the ridiculous is treated as if it were serious.