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Personally, and you can form your own opinion from the article, I think Jonah gets it all wrong on this one.

Irony is supposed to reinforce a point or a belief, or at least illuminate why they exist. And irony certainly has not 'permeated the foundations of our political system' -- because if it had, then John Bolton would be SecState right now (it being ironic that the right guy actually got put in the right job for once ;-)).

No, what permeates our culture is cynicism. It is cynicism that makes Nancy Pelosi think that having a comedian make a total mockery of a serious issue counts as actually dealing with it. It is cynicism that also makes her say things like 'we need to pass the bill so you can see what's in it' -- knowing full well that she is breaking house rules as well as mocking the legislative process. And it is cynicism that makes Nobama think he can make one random visit to church and toss off a few stray comments about biblical parables (ones that he has never taken the time to either understand or get right in their context) to demonstrate his 'committment' to his 'Christian' 'religion'.

They show utter contempt for us because they think we're all insufferably stupid and because they despise being required to subject themselves to the ignominy of re-election every so often, having to prostrate themselves before us for reaffirmation of what they think is their divine right to positions of power. Cynicism is their standard response when the rabble needs to hear from them.

Except it ain't workin' this year. In contrast to the Overweening Obama and the despicable Speaker, people are taking charge in their own personal lives: They are supporting their troops, they're economizing, saving instead of spending, paying down debt big-time (reversing a 60-year trend!), trying to plan for the worst but hoping for the best -- everything that Congress and the Prez should be doing but can't bring themselves to stop their headlong dash to disaster.

So I think Jonah got it wrong -- it's cynicism, not irony, that's the problem, and it's cynicism that's on the way out this year. And it's about time. ;-))

Totally agree with you. Cynicism is also the manipulation of the black vote and the senior vote, the ginning up of class warfare while individuals within the party make themselves rich with bribes and under the table investments, and the absolute LYING that Obama and his allies do to the electorate.

On a cheerier note, yesterday I had to take my laptop over to my local McDonald’s to see if it would work with Wifi. (It did.) Ran into a couple of old guys who were there with THEIR laptops, watching the FOX NEWS broadcast on the big screen in the Wifi area, and they were absolutely spot on with their observations on Obama. (Hint: they don’t like him at all.)

People are awake, and a lot of this cynical manipulation isn’t going to work.

You're talking about the cynicism of the ruling classes, I see, re-reading it...

I was thinking more of the cynicism created in the public...remember, in Reagan's day, faith in government went up as Reagan sought for the most part to return government to a less intrusive role in our lives.