Sigh. As Romney lies his way through Ohio, puts on phony "disaster relief"* events there (collecting food for the Red Cross despite being told they can't use food donations), teaches poll watchers how to deceive voters, tries to get a photo-op with Governor Christie (who, to his great credit, refused) surveying hurricane damage, I get an email from a reader who'd received an email claiming that Obama plans a literal holocaust in his second term.
And, sure, it'll be in part because Obama has disappointed liberals, dampening the enthusiasm of 2008. But (and I include myself to a degree among those disappointed), it in no way accounts for the effects of Romney's unshakable commitment to lying his way into the office, and the non-stop deceit and propagandizing by Fox "news" and the rest of the RWS™ committed to making it happen. Plus, of course, a measure of voter suppression added to the mix.
Talk about your perfect storm: a candidate with an absolutely unprecedented willingness to lie about himself and his opponent, a lazy mainstream press, an overwhelming amount of deliberate disinformation from a ubiquitous and dishonest right-wing media who've created a sizable number of endumbed voters, and a handful of billionaires happy to seize the opportunity to buy their way in under the unwatchful and uncaring eyes of the electorate made willing. Based on lies. If it's true that politicians have always lied, it's never been the case that all those factors have come together so impactfully at once, nor that the main candidate has been, at that moment in history, so entirely devoid of scruples, happy to cash in on it, willing to say or do anything, no matter how false.
The question -- the answer to which is nearly too horrible to contemplate -- is: how are so many people willing to cast a vote for Mitt Romney, the most egregious candidate ever produced by a major political party; how has it been so easy to deceive so many? Surely some who'll be casting their vote are doing so knowing what a liar he is. Is it because they believe the equivalent of the holocaust story? Are that many people really that stupid? And if they are, is it because they've been fully brainwashed by their favored media, or is it just an inbred hatred of the idea of a black guy in that white house?
And speaking of perfect storms, it's not a bad time to consider what sort of government response would be possible were Mitt Romney, who prefers to privatize FEMA while drastically cutting funding, (or said so in one of his incarnations), or teabaggRs who've already cut FEMA funding by nearly 50%, in power when the next one happens.
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* Turns out the event was even phonier than first realized. The guy has no shame, will lie about anything, use any situation to pretend he gives a crap. Really: the more I see of him, the more despicable he becomes. If a guy like that becomes president...
