Political attention deficit disorder - (new Tony Blankley column; amusing!)

WASHINGTON TIMES.COM ^ | APRIL 27, 2005 | TONY BLANKLEY

[CHARLITE]

Almost 100 percent of the mental energy in Congress, and at least 50 percent of the White House mental energy is currently being expended trying either to destroy or protect John Bolton and Tom DeLay. A man from Mars would presume that things in America must be ship shape, and the world had settled into a long and restful peacefulness. Otherwise, surely, the American public would be looking with reproach and indignation at their leaders using their often misguided, but considerable, mental energies to brawl over Washington jobs if there were other matters with a higher claim on their attention.

But the Martian would be wrong, as they so often are when human writers draft them into the role of ignoramus ex machina. The American public is remarkably undemanding of its politicians. Let me amend that. The public certainly expects to be condescended to and given little gifts on a regular basis. It expects — often demands — that its misconceptions about the realities of the world be dutifully parroted back to it by its elected representatives. But, as long as life is going forward more or less normally, not only does the public not demand the truth, as the Jack Nicholson character once observed: "It can't handle the truth." The redeeming aspect of the American public is that it has built and run this country magnificently, despite the usual contribution of government.

[lainde]

Wonderful post!