We are sinking further into the abyss of idiocy.
Each day we seem to crave and suckle at the teet of what can only be called far flung conspiracy nonsense. Wait? Where is this coming from? Today I read a Palmer Report which uses the tried and true methods of Rush Limbaugh and all of the 90's era anti-Clinton conspiracy theorists. essentially, what the Palmer Report did today was use words like 'mysterious conditions' as it related to Jason Chaffetz' 'sudden' resignation from his elected position. It used quotes to marginalize his foot surgery as if that too is 'mysterious.'
It is an effective tool; this is the reason that so many anti-Clinton Republicans still seethe with a putrid sense of anger at the mere mention of their name. If you listen to the Limbaugh cronies, you will come away convinced that Bill Clinton, then by proxy and extension, Hillary Clinton, are responsible for just about every evil real or imagined in the last 40 years.
I have heard all of them, and it is hilarious to listen to people so convinced of something so far-fetched and untrue. The problem? Now many of my Democrat friends are falling prey to the same type of scam.
I would say that there is no harm in this, except that they are playing right into the hands of the alt-right. We are so focused on Trump/Russia that we are losing ground every single day in making real, lasting change in this nation.
The odd part is that the phrase originated in 1992 by James Carville in the Bill Clinton campaign is what we are losing sight of; The Economy Stupid.
While Palmer, Louise Mensche and others perpetuate these crazy rumors of an entire administration about to be indicted and the line of succession reaching all the way to Utah Senator Orrin Hatch as the next President of the United States, we simply ignore why we are where we are.
The economy stupid.
What do I not believe? That the Russian interference amounted to any chicanery at the polls. Hillary Clinton won the popular vote. She lost the electoral college vote. That is not because Russia interfered, it happened because we lost sight of what mattered most. As we keep chasing this Moby Dick tale of treason and betrayal, we are doing absolutely nothing to change the future. in fact, we are making the future even bleaker.
We need to stop focusing our hopes on crazy conspiracy theories and get back to actual governance. While we sleep on Trump, chase down the Russia connections, each day we take another step toward total and utter economic chaos because we cannot see the forest through the trees.
Do I think we should stop the invgestigation? No, not entirely. I just think that we need to start focusing on how we repair the Democratic party. How do we re-engage with society in a manner that prioritizes values over demographics? Donald trump did something that the 'alt-left' will not be able to do; he created a coalition of disenfranchised older white Americans. Unfortunately, the Democratic party lost the general election due to a fracture that will not be healed by chasing our tails over Russia.
Stop feeding the trolls; it is not about Russia. It's the economy. It always has been and always will be.
