Of lapel pins and bowling scores

MANIFESTO

Glenn Greenwald's excellent post concerning the only way Republicans can win a national election is interesting, but to a certain extent tells only half the story. That is, it's certainly true that Republicans realize they don't have a chance "because the GOP brand [is] profoundly discredited among the citizenry"—as long as they stick to polity. However, it takes two to tango in this regard, and the US voting populace is culpable for buying into the inane trivia it's being offered by the media. Elizabeth Edwards has already discussed the truism that press coverage of elections stinks, but it seems as if the American electorate wants to hear about bowling scores and lapel pins.

So be it. The Sage of Baltimore saw this benighted approach the electorate takes decades ago when he noted that "democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard." Republicans seem to be in tune with this xenophobic, racist approach. It's certainly not good, but given the mentality of America's voters, it's certainly been successful.