What I have trouble with is: where is the outrage in the media? In the masses?
I guess it comes down to this: most people feel outrage based on how close they are to involvement in the situation:
- The reason people don't feel as outraged about Iraq as Vietnam is the volunteer army; they can't envision their own kids being shot up, so feel less outrage at Bush's war incompetence. After all, their kid was smart enough not to go into the Army, right?
- They're not outraged about the loss of civil liberties because it's not THEIR liberties that are being lost. They cannot envision themselves detained, without trial, and spirited off to a torture chamber in some other country. And everyone detained without trial and in a foreign dungeon MUST be guilty, else, well, that would make us the bad guys, right?
- They're not outraged by torture, because we always torture the right people, don't we? And, hey, it works in the movies.
- They're not outraged by Cheney and Rove leaking national secrets, because everyone does it, don't they?
- They're not outraged by the merging of church and state because, in their heart, they haven't a clue what that means.
- They're not outraged by global warming because, darn, it was cold last night, and how can their be global warming if it was cold last night?
- They're not outraged by the attack on science because 'intelligent design' sounds impressive. With a name like that, no doubt there is some real science behind it, right?
- Some are outraged at the federal response to Katrina, but most don't know the feeling of not having enough money to put gas in the car to flee a natural disaster, so they can't understand why those people didn't just leave.
What really outrages America? What drove Bush's numbers down, then saw them rise when the situation was relieved?
Gas prices.
You can see the correlation between Bush's numbers and the price of gas. This is something that Bush The Oil Man understands. When he says that America is addicted to oil, everyone took it that he meant that was a bad thing. To him, it's not. That's just life in Texas.
Welcome to the Texasification of America. |
