Stupid Voters

In this opinion piece (http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/27/opinion/granderson-broken-government-voters/index.html?hpt=hp_c2) LZ Granderson asserts that our government is broken because of stupid voters. He is right … kind of. These people aren’t really stupid. They probably aren’t lazy either. They are more likely to be busy, confused, uninformed, angry, or afraid. You can blame them if you want, but you can’t stop there. The blame has to go beyond those who would vote for people who question evolution, belong to a movement called the “tea Party” but don’t know that Paul Revere wasn’t warning the British and the Constitution was actually written to strengthen the power of the federal government, and would openly refuse to employ people who belong to particular religions. The blame has to fall on the people that attract the support of these people by taking advantage, and even encouraging, their hate, fear, ignorance, or even distractedness. The blame also needs to be placed on those of us who bemoan that our fate is tied to the fate of these stupid people, and snipe and snigger at them. For the most part we have not recognized our responsibility in all of this. We need to do more than just bitch and moan. We have to try and help people get past their fear, hate, and ignorance. We need to help provide the resources they need to see past the opportunistic appeals of folks like Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, and Herman Cain. We need to stop looking down our noses at these people, and realize that they could be any of us. Politics can be bewildering, most of us are very busy, and there is plenty to get angry about it. It should be understandably easy to be hoodwinked. It should be understandably easy to help people avoid being hoodwinked. When it comes to this mess we find ourselves in, if anybody is stupid it’s not just the folks who elected Bachmann and Palin. In this mess, we’re all prime candidates for stupid.