Oooooh this site’s a doozy! Goes right back to my previous post about figuring out where the $$$ comes from for presidential candidates’ campaigns. I’ll have to see what sort of credibility it has—it could be legit, but I always have my BS detector set on High, so I’m not sure yet.

Anyhoo, check out the love fest for this gem of a president: George W Bush – Money, Politics, George W Bush, Campaign Contributions

I see excited, loyal GDub “fans” and their posts, and I can’t help but play a soundtrack of derogatory banjo music in my head, interspersed with the sound of NASCARs flying by. ALL CAPS, screaming at the top of their lungs about Jesus and how God put Bush in office.

It really scares the shit out of me. Really.

I mean, I realize a lot of the world believes in the Judeo-Christian god—I was raised Catholic—but these fricken creation monkeys really kill me. Sure, I totally understand believing in God. It seems to be a big part of the human make-up. I personally am not so sold on organized religion, but there are plenty of people I respect that do. So OK, believe what you believe and do your thing. What does bother me, however, are the craz, dogma-spouting idiots that seem to lack even the tiniest sliver of ability to state arguments logically, persuade with arguments, and convey cohesive believable ideas. They all seem to be reading from the same script! As an educated person, it really blows my mind.

It’s sooooo frustrating to think that there really are people like this—people that seem to only understand and accept the narrowest regurgitated view of the world. I don’t understand, but I want to understand. I want to see what they see, think how they think and fully grasp why they can move through this world living as they do. So far, I just haven’t been able to get it.

A friend of mine feels there are basically a huge percentage of idiots out there. And that’s just how it is. The Sherri Shepherds of the world, if you will. Whatever they do professionally, wherever they live, whatever family they’re from, some people are just stupid. And, in his view, these folks are much more numerous than smart people.

Me, I’ve always tested high. I’ve gone to good schools, I’ve gotten good grades. I’ve scored in the top 5% in intelligence and academics tests.

But I just feel normal. I feel like I establish the “C” average. I generally assume that everyone else is as smart as me, and the difference is in what we know. Academically, some folks are math people, some folks are science people; some people are great with languages, some people are amazing artists. We’re all smart—just in different ways.

So…can I reconcile my worldview with what I see? Can I say these lunatics that are dyed-in-the-wool loyal to Bush’s regime in the face of all we’ve learned—SIMPLY DUE TO their belief that their god put this man there—can I say that these people are as smart as I am? That they just know something different than I do?

Mabe my main gripe is that I believe these people are out of their element. Say some redneck dumbfnck loves the shit out of Bush, loves God with all his heart, loves NASCAR. God bless him. He can sing Travis Tritt songs and mean it. This guy is an equal of mine. Let’s say his intelligence—his area expertise—is selling Toro lawnmowers. He can sell more Toro lawnmowers than anybody. He knows their parts, their tolerances, their horsepower—everything.

So far so good with my theory. He is a smart, capable equal.

HOWEVER, the problem arises when this lawnmower salesman starts asserting himself in neighborhoods he does not belong. Namely, logic. Political discourse. “Bush is the best president ever and was put there by God!!!”. To this, all I can say to the lawnmower salesman is “boy, you’re out of your element”.

He may be smart. At selling lawnmowers. But just as I know nothing about mulching features, he knows nothing about logic. He cannot make a rational, educated proposal and back it up with facts. All he can do is come in all passionate, guns blazing, and start yelling and screaming because someone on a comment board doesn’t echo what his preacher says on Sunday mornings.

I think that’s it. He’s not stupid. He’s not worthless. He’s just out of his element. And, painfully, he doesn’t seem to know it.

A problem with all of this is that guy’s vote counts (just about) as much as mine does. Sure, we have the electoral college jacking up the whole system, but in a nutshell my vote and his vote is equal.

Admittedly, I’m not studious poli-sci student; I’m no socioeconomics Ph.D. I’m just your average guy, making an effort at being a decent, responsible citizen. I want to read about candidates, weigh my options and make my decision. I realize that—more than any other choice we make in life—choosing a candidate is going to be a compromise. No one out there is going to represent my beliefs to a T. And frankly, given my limited knowledge, that’s probably a good thing in the long run. To some extent, we have to find someone that appears to be legit, appears to represent what we believe, and appears to be a credible leader. Once we do that, we have to trust that we’ve made a good decision.

It ain’t easy.