In the murky past of the way back machine we shall travel to a land far, far away where the once great state of California had a quirky governor who ran the state if not always well, certainly well enough. Then along came an "outsider" who was going to go up to Sacramento and "blow up the boxes". A new sheriff was comin to town and the tall, geeky, policywonkish true government servant who had dedicated most of his adult life to actually serving the citizens of California didn't stand a chance.
You see it didn't matter that he was a Vietnam veteran and the other guy went AWOL from his military service to lift weights, didn't matter that he graduated from Stanford and Columbia Law and the other guy graduated from Steroid U, didn't matter that he was a true environmentalist and the other guy married the relative of true environmentalist and drove 4 Hummers, and mostly it didn't matter that he was faithfully married to the same woman for over 2 decades and the other guy was faced with over a dozen women swearing out affidavits that he virtually raped them on film sets.
They didn't care - they loved the spectacle of it all and tweaking the nose of the "powers that be".
It is a condition I now call "Sarahbellum".
The cerebellum (Latin for little brain) is a region of the brain that plays an important role in motor control. It is also involved in some cognitive functions such as attention and language, and probably in some emotional functions such as regulating fear and pleasure responses, but its function in movement is the most clearly understood.
Sarahbellum plays an essential role in stimulating the reactive motor control of an increasing number of citizens in this country, while it does have some involvement in cognitive functions (masterfully worked by Ms Palin and her handlers) such as attention and language (pay attention to the language she uses and the short sound bitey answers she gives) and probably in some emotional function such as regulating fear (those darn terrorists, palling around with terrorists, you get the drift) and pleasure responses (while I don't think she's all that by a long shot, it is irrefutable that there alot of men who do, and women who wish they had "it" like Sarah), but its function in movement is most clearly understood.
When Arnold Schwarzenegger was faced with what would have surely destroyed any other aspiring politician, let alone one running to be the chief cook and bottlewasher of one of the largest economies (well used to be anyway) in the world, woman after woman risking their careers to come forward bravely and say with unquestioned resolve that he had virtually raped them in some instances what was the collective response of the electorate? Well he admitted to "acting rowdy sometimes" and Maria is standing by him so why shouldn't we? Never mind that the fate of the entire state's future rested on this momentous decision to recall a sitting governor.
It ... didn't ... matter.
We can wrap ourselves all day long in the comfortable delusion that one day surely one day soon some of these people will wake up. If only we just persist in pointing out all the foibles and idiotocracy surrounding her surely that will be enough. Surely Hubby Tod dabbling in government decisions to a heretofore unimaginable degree will be enough to whack her by association because she must have know and allowed it.
They . . . don't . . . care.
We are dealing with a sort of collective psychosis of hero worship fueled by the incessant stoking of fear mongering at a very primal and basic level. These people are not stupid, they know exactly what they are doing and they are building a movement around it. That movement is very, very dangerous to the health of our country. I take you back to my state of California for a couple of salient examples.
The year before Arnold Schwarzenegger stole the governor's office unemployment was running around 6.3% in December 2002. In December 2009 it was hovering at 12.1%, almost double according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Last year, the governor slashed education spending for K-12 by $8.4 billion. The year before he was elected Governor Davis raised K-12 education spending by almost $1.2 billion.
Arnold's approval rating versus the legislature as of last week?
A poll conducted last month by the venerable field poll showed that Arnold is now sitting on a dismal 27% approval rating. But the legislature fared even worse, at 16%.
http://articles.sfgate.com/...
Even with all that this man as overseen in the destruction of what was once a pretty remarkable place to live in the last 7 years and a bit, the core of those driven by their Sarabellum's don't care. They still blame the legislature more than the man who is running the state.
They . . . . don't . . . . care.
This is who we are up against, you can't woo them with logic, you can't right them with words, you can't fight them with a shaming and ridicule campaign - it will only embolden them - all you can do is outsmart them. We must not underestimate the ability and willingness of those who would use the Sarahbellum for their own ends to do so at every turn - they will. We juat have to be smarter, quicker, and more resolute than ever.
If California is any indicator, and it used to be as goeth California so goeth the nation, we cannot afford to lose this battle.
Our country is as stake.
Are you ready?