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Bernard Goldberg Obama’s Greatest Asset: Clueless Americans
BernardGoldberg.com ^ | September 13, 2013 | Bernard Goldberg

Posted on 09/16/2013 11:29:55 AM PDT by SJackson

H.L. Mencken made Andy Rooney look like Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. Both gave curmudgeons a bad name. But Andy was shrew; he played to Middle Americans. He would say something like, “Have you ever wondered why we collect string?” – and they would swoon. He was one of them, they thought. I knew Andy. He wasn’t one of them and I suspect he didn’t think much of them. Mencken, on the other hand, made no secret of his disdain for ordinary Americans, whom he saw as hopeless dolts.

Mencken, a Baltimore newspaperman, once said this about his fellow Americans:

“Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance. No one in this world, so far as I know—and I have researched the records for years, and employed agents to help me—has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people.”

Pretty cold. But given that the great masses of plain people elected Barack Obama twice, maybe H.L. was onto something.

They elected him the first time because he was a historical figure. He wasn’t Mondale or Dukakis or Gore or Kerry. He was young and cool and black and liberal. And Americans wanted to make history.

But the second time around? Unemployment was high, a big majority of Americans thought we were on the wrong track, the economic recovery was anemic, and most Americans had little confidence that things would get better anytime soon.

Yet he won again. So how do we explain it? Yes, you could pin it on a weak Republican candidate, but maybe Mencken was right. Maybe Americans – or enough of them anyway – are just not that smart.

I’ve been thinking about this the past few days as I, along with everyone else, watched how the president has bungled the Syrian situation. First, during his campaign for re-election, he needlessly draws a red line, warning Syria that the use of chemical weapons is something the United States would not tolerate.

So far, there have been no repercussions.

Then, a week or so ago, after the world witnessed gruesome videos of dead children who had been exposed to poison gas, presumably the work of the Syrian regime, Secretary of State John Kerry makes a forceful statement about Bashar al-Assad’s immorality and makes clear that military action is coming.

Twenty-four hours later the president, who said he didn’t need Congressional approval for a military attack, decides he wants Congress in on the decision.The president says he still wants to attack Syria, but that there’s no rush.

John Kerry, mindful that Congress is as war-weary as the American people, explains that any U.S. action would be an “unbelievably small, limited kind of effort,” prompting groans and guffaws from all over the place.

Enter Vladimir Putin, who comes riding to Mr. Obama’s rescue — rescue, that is, from a certain no vote in the House and perhaps another no vote in the Democratically-controlled Senate. Putin pushes the idea – originally put forth, tongue in check, by Secretary of State Kerry — that Russia would work with the Syrian regime to put their chemical arsenal under international control “for subsequent destruction.”

The result of all this is a president who comes off looking like more like a community organizer than a commander-in-chief. I keep waiting for Ted Mack to come out and say: Welcome friends to the latest edition of the Amateur Hour.

At heart, Mr. Obama may or may not be a nice guy. Reasonable people may disagree on that. But when it comes to being president, he’s clearly in way over his head.

In a piece for Commentary that runs under the headline, “The Collapse of the Obama Presidency,” Peter Wehner makes that very point. This is how he puts it:

“How bad has 2013 been for Barack Obama? Let us count the ways.

“In the first year of his second term, the president has failed on virtually every front. He put his prestige on the line to pass federal gun-control legislation–and lost. He made climate change a central part of his inaugural address–and nothing has happened. The president went head-to-head with Republicans on sequestration–and he failed. He’s been forced to delay implementation of the employer mandate, a key feature of the Affordable Care Act. ObamaCare is more unpopular than ever, and it’s turning out to be a ‘train wreck’ (to quote Democratic Senator Max Baucus) in practice. The most recent jobs report was the worst in a year, with the Obama recovery already qualifying as a historically weak one. Immigration reform is going nowhere. And then there’s Syria, which has turned out to be an epic disaster.”

Barack Obama is the man who told us that his candidacy would “ring out across this land as a hymn that will heal this nation, repair this world, make this time different than all the rest.” No wonder his acolytes thought he was the messiah.

So why do I think that if he were constitutionally able to run for a third term, despite everything, there’s a good chance he’d win? Let’s turn again to Mr. Mencken and that observation he made many years ago for an answer.

“Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance. No one in this world, so far as I know—and I have researched the records for years, and employed agents to help me—has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people.”

Or to put it in a slightly different way: Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.


TOPICS: Editorial; Politics/Elections
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1 posted on 09/16/2013 11:29:55 AM PDT by SJackson
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To: SJackson

Sad but true. Today, however, we have a media establishment that works overitme to keep people in the dark and to hide essential information all voters need to hear.


2 posted on 09/16/2013 11:38:07 AM PDT by WashingtonSource
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To: SJackson

Been saying it for a while now. Welcome to the party Bernie.


3 posted on 09/16/2013 11:40:09 AM PDT by brownsfan (Behold, the power of government cheese.)
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To: SJackson
“Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance. No one in this world, so far as I know—and I have researched the records for years, and employed agents to help me—has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people.”

That appears to be an unnecessarily wordy way of saying: "None of us is as incompetent as all of us".

4 posted on 09/16/2013 11:40:51 AM PDT by WayneS (Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos...)
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To: SJackson

These are all very good points, but I still believe, deep down, (and as un-PC as it is) that Obama’s real message that: (1) he would still keep giving free stuff to the masses (note, EBT card growth, SS disability explosion, 2 years unemployment, etc.) and (2) he would not impose federal income taxes on 50% of the population (while screwing the evil rich) won him the election.


5 posted on 09/16/2013 11:47:06 AM PDT by dan on the right
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To: SJackson
You cannot over look:

IRS harrasement of Tea Party (see Lois Lerner)
Voter fraud (see state of Kalifornia)
Buying votes with graft (see Green Energy)
Buying votes with food (see Food Stamp program)
Attacks on Conservative Primary Candidates (see NSA spying)
False Claim of Saving Detroit (see Detroit bankruptcy)
And yada, yada, yada...

6 posted on 09/16/2013 11:51:26 AM PDT by justa-hairyape (I think Obama and crew feel that time is being wasted and that we need to get the jump on Russian sh)
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To: SJackson

“Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance.”

There was a time, when one could get a good laugh out of Menken’s cynicism. Obama spoiled all that.


7 posted on 09/16/2013 11:53:06 AM PDT by haroldeveryman
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To: SJackson

Sadly I agree. We are a bored and lazy country, by and large, too content to allow the media and politicians to do our thinking for us.


8 posted on 09/16/2013 11:57:54 AM PDT by opus86
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To: SJackson
The danger to America is not Barack Obama but a citizenry capable of entrusting a man like him with the presidency. It will be easier to limit and undo the follies of an Obama presidency than to restore the necessary common sense and good judgment to an electorate willing to have such a man for their president. The problem is much deeper and far more serious than Mr. Obama, who is a mere symptom of what ails us. Blaming the prince of the fools should not blind anyone to the vast confederacy of fools that made him their prince. The Republic can survive a Barack Obama. It is less likely to survive a multitude of fools such as those who made him their president.”

Translated into English from an article appearing in the Czech Republic as published in the Prager Zeitung of 28 April 2010

9 posted on 09/16/2013 11:59:38 AM PDT by PROCON (Low information voters gave us this nightmare.)
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To: SJackson
Perfect response to libs who tout 0's *accomplishments*.

...Obama’s Greatest Asset: Clueless Americans

10 posted on 09/16/2013 12:01:37 PM PDT by Jane Long (While Marxists continue the fundamental transformation of the USA, progressive RINOs stay silent.)
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To: SJackson
Dems realize that and use it to their advantage. They don't try to explain the issues, they just market themselves like a product. "New and improved!" "Better than before". Then they sling mud at the Repub, their media (the "mainstream" press) cover for them, and they win.

My two sisters-in-law are like that: they only see the soundbites and what the "news" media tell them - they don't look further into anything. They fall hook, line and sinker for the media's propaganda push for the Dems, and vote for them like the lemmings they are.

11 posted on 09/16/2013 12:02:16 PM PDT by jeffc (The U.S. media are our enemy)
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To: Mears

bfl


12 posted on 09/16/2013 12:10:28 PM PDT by Mears (Liberalism is the art ot being easily offended.)
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To: SJackson
I've got 2 words for it.. "Marion Barry".

I lived in NoVa for a few years. And while not uncommon, the local political antics across the river were big entertainment for us back then.
Somehow it's not quite as funny applied nationally. d:^|

13 posted on 09/16/2013 12:18:41 PM PDT by CopperTop
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To: SJackson

It’s idiotic to “blame” “Americans” for “electing” someone.

Each party’s leadership decides the primaries.

Party leadership is under the control of the financial oligarchy

Thus who is even on the ballot is controlled by NWO.

We wind up with NWO (R) or NWO (D) being elected to both every seat in Congress and the Presidency.

There is never a non-NWO-controlled candidate that lasts in Congress very long, let alone makes it onto a Presidential ballot.

Another key tool of NWO for getting rid of candidates they don’t like and promoting those they do is the NWO-owned and controlled news media.

Americans have been living in a NWO-rigged political environment for well over a century.


14 posted on 09/16/2013 12:23:32 PM PDT by PieterCasparzen (We have to fix things ourselves)
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To: SJackson
Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

With a vote.

Will you vote to spend more than you take in? Most will say no.

Will you vote to fund a food program to keep children from being hungry? Yes. (Even though it spends more than you take in, and it's unlikely that many children are going hungry.)

15 posted on 09/16/2013 12:26:34 PM PDT by xzins ( Retired Army Chaplain and Proud of It! Those who truly support our troops pray for victory!)
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To: SJackson

Clueless “joournalists” who can’t remember the last shooting on a US military facillity


16 posted on 09/16/2013 12:27:40 PM PDT by GeronL
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To: SJackson

Title says it all.


17 posted on 09/16/2013 12:34:02 PM PDT by Old Yeller (Who am I to judge homosexuals? That's what the Tony Awards are for.)
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To: SJackson

In the first year of his second term, the president has failed on virtually every front. He put his prestige on the line to pass federal gun-control legislation–and lost. He made climate change a central part of his inaugural address–and nothing has happened. The president went head-to-head with Republicans on sequestration–and he failed. He’s been forced to delay implementation of the employer mandate, a key feature of the Affordable Care Act. ObamaCare is more unpopular than ever, and it’s turning out to be a ‘train wreck’ (to quote Democratic Senator Max Baucus) in practice. The most recent jobs report was the worst in a year, with the Obama recovery already qualifying as a historically weak one. Immigration reform is going nowhere. And then there’s Syria, which has turned out to be an epic disaster.”

True that but it’s “All the Republicans’ fault” ( the Bush Card has expired)


18 posted on 09/16/2013 12:44:14 PM PDT by griswold3
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To: SJackson

See tagline.


19 posted on 09/16/2013 2:38:42 PM PDT by Joe Brower (The "American People" are no longer capable of self-governance.)
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To: SJackson

What Goldberg completely misses is the 2nd election of Obama the republicans ran the inventor of Romneycare against him.. about as dysfunctional choice as would be possible.. ON PURPOSE...

PROVING..... The republican IS dyslexic...


20 posted on 09/16/2013 2:49:27 PM PDT by hosepipe (This propaganda has been edited to include some fully orbed hyperbole..)
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