LYING TO THE M. C.

The M. C. is the middle class. Lying to them (us) is a
full-time occupation for defenders of the corrupt and
failing status quo. They know that change is coming,
and they desperately want to head it off before the
pass. While David Brooks dishonestly cherry-picks
various polls and studies to show that Americans
(supposedly) are satisfied with our economic system,
Glenn Beck can't decide whether we are being seduced
by socialism, or forced into fascism. He is too ignorant
evidently to understand what either of those is, or how
far we really are from those extremes. But extremes
make up his game. That's what he does.

Brooks, writing today in a N. Y. Times op. ed "Yanks in
Crisis," purports to be discussing something he calls "the
public mind." But what he is really talking about is how
he thinks people feel about things. How folks think and
how they feel are, of course, two very different things.
"People don't seem to feel as if they are sliding into a hole,"
he writes, "but neither do they feel secure." If you look
at the continuing rise in unemployment and foreclosures,
it's perfectly clear that we are sliding into a hole, regard-
less of how anyone feels about it. The banks are doing a
little better. How could they not, with the Fed. lending
them our money at zero interest, and them charging
credit card holders anywhere from 12.5% to 19% to 32%?

Mr. Brooks goes on to say: "The crisis has not sent Ameri-
cans running to the government for relief." Really? Which
Americans is he talking about? Has he heard of the auto
makers? Or AIG? Or Citi Group and the rest? How about
the increase in folks applying for food stamps and unemploy-
ment benefits? This is nonsense. There is simply no truth
in what he is saying. None at all!

Brooks refers to a Gallop poll that shows that 55% of Ameri-
cans said that government is the biggest threat to the coun-
try. This shows the success of the idiot chorus of Rush, Beck,
Hannity and O'Reilly, etc. drumming that blatant falsehood
into an uninformed and unthinking majority going back to
Reagan ism. Our government is a bigger threat than nukes
in the hands of N. Korea and Iran? A bigger threat than Is-
lamic radicalism? Big government didn't cause this econo-
mic mess we are in. It was ungoverned greed, deceit and
fraud coupled with stupidity in the investment sector that
drove our economy into the ditch. Weak government allow-
ed it, not strong government. (For a discussion of the false
market mythology of the Reagan years, see my last blog.)
For a factual historical explanation of how the public has
been misled into thinking "government is the problem,"
see What's the Matter with Kansas?, by Thomas Franks.
He explains how issues like "God, guns and gays" are
used skillfully to hoodwink people into sacrificing their
own best interests to support the predatory state run
by and for the big corporations.

An example of the crooked use of numbers by Brooks:
"When Gallup asked specifically about the current crisis,
44% of Americans said they disapprove of an expanded
role for government during the crisis; 39% said they
approve of an expanded role but want it reduced when
the crisis is over; and only 13% want to see a permanently
expanded role for government. See what he's doing? If
you add the 37% and the 13%, all of whom want expanded
government activity in the crisis, you get 52% for an
expanded gov't. role. That's a majority! And it's also
just the opposite of the point Brooks is trying to make.

Why is Fixed News (Fox Noise) so hostile to Europe?
Why are their false prophets lying about France and
Sweden in particular? I'll plan to take that up soon.

jgoodwin004@centurytel.net