Our Path of Inattention

We believe what we want to believe. We see what supports our beliefs. We hear what we want to hear. That's how we construct our world. Sometimes the deus ex machina literary device, forgetfulness, is called upon to intercede - when it becomes impossible to ignore or bend the ‘facts’ our way - to round off rough edges of mendacity (as it were), as in photo shop.

It is likely that Kennedy remembers it as he wrote it. It is unfair of Roger Mudd to challenge him now; now that Ted can no longer defend himself. The clip reminds me of what they did to Bush reading 'My Pet Goat'.

Sure there's more media available for the people to access today. But we have already surpassed the saturation point. Not everyone has the time or desire to peruse every news web. And who among us is qualified to make a decision as to which one is telling the truth?

Again, it comes down to what we want to hear; what we want to see. You can never expect a good progressive to listen to Limbaugh (unless there’s an underlying psychological problem). By the same token, you can never expect a good conservative to listen to Olbermann. You can never expect a good Christian to listen to rap, or a rapper to listen to Bach. You can't even get people of different ideologies to talk to each other anymore unless they've got something other than politics to discuss – something that they can agree on or mutually benefit from. Sometimes politics poisons everything and causes brother to rise up against brother. That’s why our mothers told us never to talk about politics or religion in good company.

What it comes down to is trust. We listen to those we trust. It is significant when nearly two million people converge in Washington to protest Obama’s policies. It is even more significant when most of the media goes out of their way to marginalize it. It means that someone is being disingenuous. Someone is lying. Someone is hiding something under a bushel. Someone is no longer worthy of our trust.

It’s gone beyond words; beyond the ‘facts’. Call it morphic resonance, call it anything – a gut feeling. Ted Kennedy was one of the architects of what we have today. He was a deeply flawed man. As such he could be ‘used’ to help accomplish what the Left has accomplished in America. We only saw what we wanted to see – the flag; the dynasty; the glitter of privilege. We ignored all the rest of the clues from Chappaquiddick on to Ted throwing his support to Obama.

Now, we can no longer ignore what has happened. Most of us are still inclined to shoot the messenger. But as our nation continues to flounder - as Bush slips from memory - more and more will be forced to connect the dark and sinister dots. To some these will represent a flock of black swans. To others these will mark our path of inattention; our almost pathological clinging to the dubious solution of appeasement when confronted by a challenge; our taste for having sand covering our sense organs.

It has been said often that people get the government they deserve. Perhaps it’s right and proper for us to suffer for our sins. The tragedy is that our children will suffer as well. Our unborn have not yet had the opportunity to make mistakes. Yet they too will suffer. For the first time in our history we will have handed our kids a nation in ruins. No doubt about it, this is historic.