Democrats and Republicans blame each other for wrong political decisions, but one thing they agree on is the state of the American voter.
Shenckman blames voters for their lack of knowlege about the world, their dumbed down perception of the political scene, and their lack of interest in the issues facing our nation.
Shenckman illustrated the illusion Americans had that Saddam Hussein was behind 9/11 and the consequences of that myth. WMD became an everday term as the public believed that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction.
Voters believed President Bush's claim that Saddam's nuclear program threatened America, despite the Department of Energy and the "UN International Atomic Energy Commission's" claims to the contrary (5). Other national agencies promoted the same information, but the public remained unaware. Americans knew little about the isolation of our country. The planned invasion of Iraq gained more criticism than support from many other nations, some allies, who denounced Bush and the United States.
Schenkman notes that "if Americans cannot think straight about events of the magnitude of 9/11 and the Iraq War, what can they think straight about?" (6)
The chapter GROSS IGNORANCE laments the fact that television sound bites have replaced informative media such as newspapers and news magazines. Few Americans can locate Iraq or Afghanistan on a map, and only 20% of Americans hold a passport. "Americans are vastly inferior in their knowlege of world geography as compared with Europeans" (18).
A recent poll revealed that 49% of Americans could not name the cities where the first atomic bomb was dropped or who said,"Tear down this wall, Mr. Gorbachev." Watch David Letterman or Jay Leno's street interviews with Americans. Unbelieveable. Makes you wonder what information they use when voting in national elections.
Forty three per cent of Americans pay no income tax-65.5 million people (Tax Policy Center). They skip the April 15th race to the post office to send a check because they expect the government to send them a check.
Schenkman notes the manipulation of voters by the media and by politicians. He cites the example of the famous Nixon-Kennedy debate where Kennedy won a landslide.
Kennedy's people had the thermostat pushed up so Nixon would sweat as he was prone to do. Kennedy remained cool.
Kennedy wore a blue shirt which enhanced his visual appearance on black and white television, while Nixon's white shirt made him look tired and pale. Kennedy looked tanned.
Nixon shifted from foot to foot because of pain in his knee from a recent surgery whike Kennedy remained steadfast and poised. After that debate, Nixon put his best television and publicity people to advise and prepare him for his next appearance.
It is no coincidence that Bush manipulated the American voter by his rugged cowboy persona, bragging that he made C's at Yale, and pictures of his Texas ranch and the bar-b-ques and cowboys. That stuff endeared him to the populace. Branding has become a political pasttime.
Reagan told a group of students, "You'd be surprised how much being a good actor pays off in politics." Hilary cried real tears in the New Hampshire primary, and Bill played sax on the Arsenio Hall show.
Cable news shows concentrate on the sensational rather than on vital issues facing our nation. A young girls is supposedly murdered and her body unrecovered on a Caribbean island. Casey Anthony's trial is the latest media phenomenon. Reality tv mops up on the ratings. News shows lack audiences who are mesmerized by sitcoms, reality tv, and movies.
That great philosopher Forrest Gump said, "Stupid is as stupid does."
Shenkman posits that Americans are dumb by choice. His final statement, "We can have a country of smart voters."
Very interesting reader, no matter your political stance.
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