June 23, 2007

The Politics of Puerility

As an unapologetically overeducated coast-dwelling lib'rul that is hopelessly—and intentionally—out of touch with middle American values (of sanctimony and hypocrisy), I have often mentioned my great contempt for the majority of (barely literate) voters that, despite reveling in their own incompetence and ignorance much as babies do in their own shit, continue to hold as much sway as the individuals who spend their time educating themselves on the candidates and issues. Despite this overt disdain, by and large, I had up till now dismissed them as merely a nuisance (as does a lot of political science literature), whose random vote, while irritating, would nevertheless be rendered irrelevant when the knowledgeable (few) cast their own votes—much like Wikipedia. However, a column (subscription required) in this week's Economist will likely prove to be disconcerting for those who choose to still believe that the idiots amongst us can be appeased (with US Weeklies and American Idol). I mean, just look what happened to Chamberlain and Daladier in Munich.