Americans and the Boogeyman

As the mid term elections approach I am struck with the knowledge of something I never understood or recognized before.  It is a truth that is beginning to sink in...and affect my views of American politics.  As I watch (don't gag) Hardball with Chris Matthews, The Ed Show with Ed Sholtz (even I can't stomach him half the time) and the nightly Countdown with Keith Olberman I find the truth to become more and more evident...and very sad as well...

American politics revolves around the Boogeyman.

Now before you start yelping in defense I want to make a couple of points about the concept of a Boogeyman:

1. Rarely is a Boogeyman real, especially in the sense it is created by the story teller
2. The Boogeyman is an abstract concept hid in shadows and short on details
3. Rarely is there a clear cut solution to the Boogeyman

Having said that I want to also make clear that in American politics the Boogeyman has different names and different faces depending on your point of view and ideology.  Make no mistake...both sides of the political spectrum make use of the Boogeyman...liberals and conservatives, Democrats and Tea Party Republicans, right and left alike. 

Politicians feed on the baser nature of their voters.  Simple as that.  Fear, hate, elitism, class warfare, extermism, prejudice, pride, anger and just plain out ego and selfishness.  These are the emotions the put politicians in office.  The current surge against incumbants is not some lofty aspiration...it is politicians feeding on the baser of the human emotions.

Politicians deal in superlatives.  They are the BEST option set against the backdrop of the WORST President, Senator or Congressman EVER!  These superlatives are useless, meaningless and insulting...yet we the voters award them by cheering for them, donating to them and voting for them.   Our own anger at not getting what we want when we want leads us to look beyond reason and seek the quick answer...that never really is as quick as we expected and rarely is the answer at all...instead, more often than not, it is just more of the same.

Another fact that plays into this Boogeyman fuel in American politics is the ego of Politicians.  Politicians want to save us.  Simple as that.  Politicians have to have something to fix, or there is no need for them and most certainly no need to replace them.  If there is NOT a problem with our society, economy, culture, etc.  Than there is no need for elections.  It has to be a problem that only they can fix and that preferrably the person they want to replace had a part in creating. So by necessity, in order to get into office there has to be a Boogeyman.

Take the Tea Party Republicans for example.  The success of the Tea Party GOP is not that they have new ideas....their ideas are ones being rehashed and have been rehashed by the extremists in this country over and over.  Their success is not that they are so bright and intellignet...please...O'Donnel, Miller, Palin and Angle...these people are not exactly intellectual giants.  No.  Their success is built on some very distinct and basic human emotions: hate, selfishness, ego, fear and racism.  Their lack of leadership provides a wide array of behaviour and misbehaviour that leaves NOBODY accountable.  So people like Palin and Beck can ride the surge, take advantage of the opportunity, advance their own personal political and religious agenda without having to take responsiblity for the actions of their own people.  Fear of government, religious theocratic views, fear of the Brown Man, the Black Man...and for that matter anybody that is not white...all these baser urges and instincts have fueled the Tea Party GOP.

There are those that want to fight the tie of the Tea Party to the GOP.  Those that want to say the Tea Party is both Democrats and Republicans.  I point to one simple truth...not one Tea Party candidate in any race accross this country has challenged a Democrat in the primaries...the only seats they have contested are Republican seats because they ARE Republicans and the ONLY seats they CAN fill are Republicans.

But enough of that...let's look at the Boogeyman. Each party has its own Boogeyman...so let's look at it.

Republicans prefer a Boogeyman that appeals to patriotism.  Right now in our country their three preferred Boogeymen are: Islam, Barrack HUSSEIN Obama and illegal immigrants.  I could go into all kinds of talk about this but frankly I am so disgusted with them and so tired of hearing their hate filled rhetoric that I would rather not get into it.  Islamophobia fueled by good old fashion hate and racism and religious extremism has spread like wild fire threatening the very values that have made us great. Tack onto that the homophobia of the right and their resurging thocratic views and Boogeymen abound.

Democrats favorite Boogeymen are rich people and big business.  I tend to defend some of these views because of my own liberal leanings but that does not change the fact that the same ploy is used by liberals on the left.

The point is that American politics will always be ugly because there will always be some horrible Boogeyman out to destroy us.  Until this changes our system will continue to degenerate and there is no Pledge to America that can stop it.  Our system is becoming more and more useless the more we cater and reward the demagoguery.  It is sad the point we have sunk to in our country...the talk about "Restoring Honor" sounds nice...but is in and of itself just more of the same.  The Boogeyman is gonna get you if you don't vote for us....and in the end...we all lose...