There's No Hope. Not a Bit

There are times where you wanna grab a 2 X 4 and beat yourself upside the head, if for no other reason than because maybe if you do, it'll cause you to see the world in the skewed way that so many others do. Our country has gotten so strange that I've come to call the aspect of it (the strangeness where we hear from those in power that up is down, good is bad, that no child is left behind etc.) the bizarro world. Because really, reality in America defies definition these days.

Last night the wife and I were watching The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. It's one of our favorite parts of the day. Stewart is decidedly left of center, but with a very comedic twist. A cadre of irreverant and hilarious reporters deliver satirical takes on the day's top stories, and last night it was Samantha Bee's turn. Her focus: the "Town Hall" meetings that the Bush administration has been conducting throughout the nation.

These town hall meetings are every bit as genuine to open debate as Stepford is to the institution of marriage. As Swanson frozen dinners are to fine cuisine. As current journalism is to a free press.

So, in order to go in depth about the Town Hall Meetings, she sought out their originator, Frank Luntz. Well, ol' Frank has his own research company which you can find on the web. Right there on his web site he quotes someone who's diametrically 0pposed to what he does--Al Franken:
“Asking Frank Luntz if he understands public opinion is like asking Julia Child if she knows how to make a soufflé.”
Here in bizarro world you can quote people who hate what you do if it makes you look good.

Okay...so Samantha goes to talk to Frank Luntz, who's remarkably candid about what he does.
They watch a videotape of a Town Hall meeting and he points out that the most important thing is a good backdrop. The backdrop shown has a great smattering of Americans, including (he points out) a black, a woman, Asians...this appearing inclusive for the cameras is quite important.

And of course the big banner in the back, which says Saving Social Security. He points out that whatever this backdrop is, they need to be short-n-sweet, and to have a repetitive consonant (note the SSS).

As I'm being entertained, I can't help but note that one of the prime movers-n-shakers of the Republican party--this is the guy who came up with the name Clear Skies Initiative for a program which allows polluters to exchange the right to pollute with one another-- has gone on national television to point out the tremendous vapidity of their message, not to mention the techniques of how they sell such stupidity.

This, as I feel the need to point out again, is bizarro world. This is the world we live in today, where there is such a lack of shame that someone can stand proudly next to their work, which consists of marketing a pile of dog poo as something fabulous, something beautiful, something special, and say with earnest smiles that they do good.

Bizarro world. The US of A in 2005. Where what something's called is far more important than what it is. Where what something does is far less important than what it seems to do. Where what something appears to be is far more important than what it is.

I'd like to add some more to this, but for now, gotta run. I'm headed to the Home Depot so I can buy a 2 X 4.