Saturday, October 23, 2004
The Anti-Intellectuals
In the 1960s, Richard Hofstadter wrote a book bemoaning the rise of anti-intellectualism in the United States, in which prominent politicians were being rewarded for appealing to the lowest common demoninator in all of us. Whether it was McCarthy's charges against Acheson's effeminate Europeanism, or Ike's eschewing anything but the Western novel, it was a period similar to the sort of thing we are seeing today.
Republicans in particular have elevated anti-intellectualism as an American value. How to count the ways?
There is Rummy's consistent drubbing of opponents of the war favoring either "Old Europe" or one dominated by the "French and Germans" (and lets not forget the House of Representative's change of french fries to "Freedom" fries). Even moreso, there is the complete lack of curiosity among the President on the days events. President Bush, early in his career if you recall, was seen boarding "Air Force One" carrying Bernard Goldberg's pitiful book, "Bias," which essentially signaled to the President's supporters that it may actually be the smarter thing to not read papers or watch the news, since it is so flawed anyway.
This strategy has seemed to seep to all levels of the Republican Party. Incredulously, here is Senator Jim Bunning in an interview after a speech he gave at the Rotary Club in Kentucky. When asked about the Army Reserve troops who refused orders to take supplies into a dangerous area because their truck was lightly armored, Bunning said "I don't know anything about that." When told that this was a national news story that had played over the course of several days, Bunning said:
"Let me explain something: I don't watch the national news, and I don't read the paper. I haven't done that for the last six weeks. I watch Fox News to get my information."
When told that (gasp) even Fox had carried the story, he said "Not the times I watched it."
We all know just how misinformed Fox News watchers are regarding the important problems facing the US and the world, but this is something. A US Senator, who ostensibly has a staff, only watches Fox News, and even that limited amount cannot inform him that there are serious issues involving our troops in Iraq. His only meager response was:
I traveled to Iraq and things were going swimmingly. Imagine that?
If you remember in 2000, Rush Limbaugh and others consistently urged a vote against Gore because he was like that kid who sat in the front row, always asked for more homework, and told the teacher when she forgot to give the class the homework for the day. And he was punished for this. Shouldn't we want a President who is not just an over achiever but one who is intellectually interested in all things different? Apparently not if you are a Republican.
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Republicans in particular have elevated anti-intellectualism as an American value. How to count the ways?
There is Rummy's consistent drubbing of opponents of the war favoring either "Old Europe" or one dominated by the "French and Germans" (and lets not forget the House of Representative's change of french fries to "Freedom" fries). Even moreso, there is the complete lack of curiosity among the President on the days events. President Bush, early in his career if you recall, was seen boarding "Air Force One" carrying Bernard Goldberg's pitiful book, "Bias," which essentially signaled to the President's supporters that it may actually be the smarter thing to not read papers or watch the news, since it is so flawed anyway.
This strategy has seemed to seep to all levels of the Republican Party. Incredulously, here is Senator Jim Bunning in an interview after a speech he gave at the Rotary Club in Kentucky. When asked about the Army Reserve troops who refused orders to take supplies into a dangerous area because their truck was lightly armored, Bunning said "I don't know anything about that." When told that this was a national news story that had played over the course of several days, Bunning said:
"Let me explain something: I don't watch the national news, and I don't read the paper. I haven't done that for the last six weeks. I watch Fox News to get my information."
When told that (gasp) even Fox had carried the story, he said "Not the times I watched it."
We all know just how misinformed Fox News watchers are regarding the important problems facing the US and the world, but this is something. A US Senator, who ostensibly has a staff, only watches Fox News, and even that limited amount cannot inform him that there are serious issues involving our troops in Iraq. His only meager response was:
I traveled to Iraq and things were going swimmingly. Imagine that?
If you remember in 2000, Rush Limbaugh and others consistently urged a vote against Gore because he was like that kid who sat in the front row, always asked for more homework, and told the teacher when she forgot to give the class the homework for the day. And he was punished for this. Shouldn't we want a President who is not just an over achiever but one who is intellectually interested in all things different? Apparently not if you are a Republican.
