In The Bubble of Stupidity

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The brilliant and colourful English Lit professor and occasional philosopher Marshall McLuhan presciently wrote, “Politics will eventually be replaced by imagery. The Politician will be only too happy to abdicate in favour of his image, because the image will be much more powerful than he could ever be.”

maxinewaters

McLuhan passed away in December of 1980, yet he seems to have had the capacity to perceive so many vacuous celebrity politicians which today fill our electoral landscape – empty vessels which float to re-election on electoral carpets of wishful thinking and ignorance. With an uninquisitive media abstaining from accurate reporting, the misinformed public remains in the dark.

No-where is that ignorance of “imagery” politicians in more glorious display than on all matters economic. Politicians may not hold forth on brain surgery or Mars landings, but they certainly expound profusely on the economy and its forces.  This week we were treated to a rather typical display of incomprehensible idiocy by none other than a Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee. Perhaps we should underline “Financial Services Committee.”

Congresswoman Maxine Waters made the following statement,“Yesterday we did have Mr. Bernanke in our committee and he came to tell us what he’s doing with quantitative easing and that is trying to stimulate the economy with the bond purchases that he’s been doing because he’s trying to keep the interest rates low and create jobs–and he said that if sequestration takes place, that’s going to be a great setback. We don’t need to be having something like sequestration that’s going to cause these jobs losses, over 170 million jobs that could be lost–and so he made it very clear he’s not opposed to cuts but cuts must be done over a long period of time and in a very planned way rather than this blunt cutting that will be done by sequestration. . . . . And so, we are here today, one more time, talking about women and children and families and how we can protect our women, children, and families and have a decent quality of life–sequestration will set us back. All of the gains that we have made will be lost with sequestration.”

So there you have it from very near the top of the Nation’s political hierarchy – a statement providing clear insight into the frightening lack of comprehension with which the country’s financial affairs are supervised.  Let’s ignore the absurd claim, “170 million jobs that could be lost,” since there are only 141,614,000 jobs as of January 2013 in total – and well, anyone can make a mistake when making a supposedly critical statement to the Nation. No?

Of greater import is Waters’ description and characterization of Bernanke’s presentation to her Committee?  Does she, or any other member of her Committee understand enough of what Bernanke is doing, or why?  She states,  “he came to tell us what he’s doing with quantitative easing and that is trying to stimulate the economy with the bond purchases that he’s been doing because he’s trying to keep the interest rates low and create jobs.”  Huh?  Does anyone ask her how her brain connects all those dots? That would be embarrassing, since the dots don’t connect.   They don’t and they can’t.  Did anyone on her committee ask Bernanke to connect those dots?

Her statement demonstrates that this “imagery” politician is lost and baffled by economic matters and realities, but she is evidently confident of achieving a successful outcome for herself through the spewing of unintelligible gibberish as long as it is followed by a comment about the sky falling on single women and children.  Pretend to somehow be protecting single women and children, which is even better than championing motherhood and apple pies, and Walters succeeds in propping her own statue another day.

Waters is simply another fear-mongering politician ignorant of the fact that the Fiscal Cliff is only reducing some of the planned increases in discretionary spending.  Almost nothing will be cut from mandatory entitlement programs – Social Security, and Medicare, or from debt interest payments.  The Nation’s financial problems rests primarily on mandatory expenditures and their looming explosion.  Should someone point that out?

With the quality of economic acuity we are subject to, as demonstrated by politicians of the Waters caliber, it is hardly surprising that nothing is being done to bring spending and debt under control.  Nothing is being done to restrain the excessive growth of government.  The complexity is too difficult for uninformed and uncreative minds of the “imagery” politicians to confront. It is so much easier to ignore a complicated reality, particularly when doing so might throw shadows on their ideology.

Let’s take another prod from Marshall McLuhan’s stimulative mind, in which he prophetically defined mindsets of the current leadership in Washington, “I wouldn’t have seen it if I hadn’t believed it.”

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I watched the ladies behind Ms. Waters for even the slightest sign of acquaintance with economic reality…..you know a raised eyebrow about the 170 MILLION jobs we will all lose if sequestration happens?

Not even a hint of dubiousness!
They all swallowed her mindless hyperbola whole and expect you and me to do the same.

Amazing!

Surely the Bard was referring to someone like Maxine, when he penned this famous line:

Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player, that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more; it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

We haven’t seen such mental midgetry in office since Reconstruction.

I have often thought about the cadre of people who stand behind politicians giving speeches. Initially, I thought they stood there because the speaker might lose his nerve and they kept him from him from turning to bolt, but that didn’t really seem likely, because politicians have no premonitions against telling bald faced lies to the public. I then realized they are “yes men” who are willing to swear by the lies being told, no matter how outrageous or unbelievable they seem. Thus the lying politician gains veracity with solemn “yes men” standing behind him ready to swear that the speech contains not a word of a lie. The method has been proven so effective, seldom is a speech given without solemn yes men standing tall, acting dignified, and ready to swear affirmation to the lies.

Makes one wonder about the intelligence of the voters in her district that keep sending her back to the senate, doesn’t it? A perfect example of why we need term limits!

JR, why are there no Liberals rushing to defend the honor and intellect of Ms Waters?

she was so happy to learn a new word, she came public with her take on it,
they are a bunch of sequestronistic blabber mouth

the word is hot now,
I can see the couple looking at each other and one would ask,
how about us sequestrioning, and the other answer with a mind of her own,
you need some help?

The left has dubbed most if not all Conservatives as stupid, and yet Guam, when last I looked, has not tipped over. The moon rover has not been spotted on mars, and no Cons. has a snake under the table.
How do the “journalist” sleep at night knowing they are out and out liars? Mystery of mysteries.

@jainphx: Because they are doing exactly what they are expected to do and have absolutely no worries for their own personal futures.

I don’t like arrogant elected who feel so secure as to come in front of the people and give them a bunch of bulshit, they believe the citizens to be all stupid as their own voters,
throw them out all of those from top to bottom
AMERICANS missed on MITT ROMNEY BIG TIME,
AND MITT ROMNEY, PLEASE DON’T TAKE ALL THE BLAME,
IT WOULD NOT BE FAIR, YOU HAVE BEEN SCREWED BY AN EXPANSIVE MACHINE WHICH YOU WOULD NOT HAVE NEVER EXPECTED because you’re too honest to even think of someone doing it from hell, AND YOU WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN ABLE TO PAY FOR THE SAME,,
WHEN YOU HAVE VOTERS VOTE FOR YOU AND THE MACHINE SWITCH TO THE OTHER WHICH IS OBAMA,
THIS IS THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG ONLY,
THERE SHOULD HAVE BEEN A RECALL RIGHT AWAY TO PREVENT OBAMA FROM REORGANIZING THE SAME MACHINE, IT HAD TO BE RIGHT AFTER, AND YOU WOULD HAVE SEEN THE WIN
ABOVE EXPECTATION OF YOU MITT ROMNEY AND YOUR TEAM.
THAT’S THE MISTAKE YOU MADE, NOTHING ELSE,
AMERICANS DID NOT DESERVE A GOOD MAN LIKE YOU.
AND THOSE WHO DESERVED FAIL TO RAISE THEIR OUTRAGE,