We may roll our eyes or even scream out loud at dimwitted politicians who believe people rode on dinosaurs 6,000 years ago or that women who are raped can’t get pregnant.
But these numbskulls are doing more than you or I to make the old American dream a reality, namely that any child, no matter his or her background, ethnicity or how incredibly stupid he or she may be, can now realistically dream of being elected to higher office and maybe, just maybe, become President of these United States.
Of course, President George W deserves most of the credit for giving nitwits who couldn’t spell the word vote if you spotted them the v, o and t hope they too may be qualified to run for higher political office.
Which brings us to Mindy Meyer.
At the precocious age of 22, Ms Meyer (who makes narcissistic imbecile Sarah Palin look like a Rhodes scholar) is running for New York State Senate. Good for Mindy! What makes her think she’s qualified for the job?
Her role model Elle Woods, that’s who!
And who is Elle Woods, you ask? Uh, Reese Witherspoon’s character in Legally Blonde? Hello!? “Elle Woods showed me that if you can take pink and bring it to the highfaluting legal institution Harvard, why can’t you bring it to the Senate?,” asks Meyer. “And pink is my favorite color too.” OMG!
Chipper Mindy, who considers herself a Republican (go figure) although she waited too long to register to run as one, is instead running on the Conservative line.
I don’t believe Mindy will be elected, and we may even laugh at the thought of it.
But twenty years ago we laughed at the possibility of a man who thinks “In a ‘legitimate’ rape, the female body has ways of shutting down so she can’t get pregnant” being elected to Congress. Say hello to Congressman and Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin.
Four years ago, vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin was highly insulted that Katie Couric would ask her such a “gotcha” question as which newspapers she read. And Palin was 44.
In Back to the Future, Michael J Fox’s character has a hard time convincing a 1955 scientist that in 1980, Ronald Reagan would be elected President (“The actor? Who’s vice president–Jerry Lewis?”)
But the laugh turned out to be on us, from Governor Arnold (“The Terminator”) Schwarzenegger to Governor Jesse (“The Body”) Ventura to Sonny and Mary Bono.
The obvious question is how celebrity-obsessed, shallow and ignorant have we become as a nation?
The obvious answer? Don’t ask.
A full 50% of Americans do not “believe” in evolution, which is the same as not believing that the Earth is round or revolves around the Sun. When we were in college and someone said they didn’t believe in evolution, we’d rightly think that person a moron and walk away wondering how he or she snuck into school. How could educated people say such a stupid thing out loud?
Today those people are Senators and Governors of a number of states.
Meanwhile, Mindy has a dream. “I want to ultimately, maybe, one day run for President.”
Sorry Mindy, you won’t even be elected to the state Senate__ at least in 2012.
But 20 years from now? The way things are going?
Whoa! Do I actually believe that someone as vapid as Mindy Meyer could someday be elected to our nation’s highest office?
The best way to answer that question is to quote former U.S. President George H.W. Bush:
“I have opinions of my own on that–strong opinions–but I don’t always agree with them.”
OMG!
Dear Mr. Gritty.
“I have opinions of my own on that–strong opinions–but I don’t always agree with them.” Who was G.H.W. Bush’s speech writer, Yogi Berra?
The Sarah Palin fiasco, (she actually thought Africa was a country), proves that all candidates should have to take a mandatory intelligence test and know the basic facts (but then we might run out of candidates!)
I think you touched on it here: Americans will get what they deserve.
You’re talking about a country whose inhabitants would rather be watching “So You Think You Can Dance” and other such shows instead of programs where they could actually gain any meaningful knowledge. It seems they would rather vote for someone who is somehow amusing to them rather than someone who has definite ideas about solving the problems they face. Of course once they make the wrong choice they will also complain about the consequences.