Last week I posted a clip from Fox News illustrating the depth of ignorance that is gumming up our political process, and how powerful political forces seek not only to take advantage of that ignorance, but are hard at work to create more of it, through the media organs of Fox News, the Right wing talk radio swamp, and the anti science blogosphere.
This clip of House Speaker John Boehner on Sunday’s Meet the Press brings it full circle. David Gregory asks Boehner about the same clip that I posted, and whether he felt it was his job as leader to actively dispel ignorance, bigotry, and misinformation among his fellow congressmen, and among republican voters.
Boehner calmly answers that it’s “not his job” to tell people what to think.
Check the shocked, shocked! look on Boehner’s face (at about 1:37) after Gregory asks if that isn’t “playing it fast and loose..”
Although this example is about the “Obama is a Muslim” meme – the technique has been applied across the spectrum of ideas, particularly to climate science.
Republican operative Roger Ailes tells his troops what Republican talking points of the day to cover.
They blanket the airwaves with the Republican anti-reason, anti-science, pro-petroleum message ,
actively massaging the synapses of their meticulously focused grouped audience, the talking points are picked up and dutifully repeated throughout talk radio and blog land, and the nation’s leading Republican goes on another network to say he “can’t tell Americans what to think.”
As disgusting and repulsive as it is, it’s been effective. If we are as serious about saving the planet as the Right Wing Noise machine is about destroying it, we need to come up with some potent ways to answer this.
Truth is the enemy of the GOP, they count on voter ignorance.
I’d sure like to hear what a others in congress think of this ‘it’s not my job’ response.
Speaker Boehner doesn’t shy away from telling Americans to “believe” that our biggest problem is that the government spends too much, borrows too much, and taxes too much.