The insanity of truth denying is
somewhat staggering to considering, with people who are so disconnected from the real world that they seek to create some form of near 50 year long conspiracy of how Barack Obama wasn’t actually born in the United States (as long as you consider Hawaii as one of the 50 United States of America). From the “birthers” the insanity extends to “death”, with those fighting health care reform outright lying with their assertions that a proposal to have reimbursement of counseling and writing a living will is somehow a devilish path to put Americans to death. Tom Toles captured this insanity with a cartoon and term with a clarity that shows the power of an insightful political cartoonist: Cradle-to-Grave Crazy
Cradle-to-Grave Crazy … this truly does capture a stream in the American dialogue that seems to be striving to make members of the Flat Earth Society look like deep thinkers with their feet solidly on the ground.
What we should realize and recognize is that this “Cradle-to-Grave Crazy” is not just the bookends of life, but everything in between. The same denial of reality comes not just with racist attacks on Barack Obama and impassioned misinformed outrage about moving forward to a better health care system in the nation, but also with global warming denial with concerted and often-funded efforts to distort the science, confuse the public discussion, and stifle our ability to deal with the serious challenges and seize the opportunities that global warming represents and that a clean energy future offers.
This denialism is a form of reckless endangerment to the future security and prosperity of the nation.
As an example of the recklessness and taking “cradle-to-grave” analogy in another direction. Take a look, for example, at mountain-top removal in our national sacrifice zone of Appalachia and its “cradle-to-grave” impacts. From the damage to the mountains, to the dust silicate and the impacts on one’s lungs, to the damage (destruction) to streams through “fill”, to poisoned water supplies, to the slurry ponds (and the risks from potential linkage of into water supplies), to the burning of coal (and the variety of significant impacts).
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regularly shows us what a good political cartoonist can do for the public discussion.
As understanding emerges after exposure to other cultures and belief systems.
Are there 140 deep underground military bases?
Do parts of the intelligence community work with 57 different species of extra-terrestrial visitors.
What are they spraying the skies with.
Why are we continuing Bush’ War of Terror.
and this afternoon I attended a health reform forum in a mid-sized Middle Tennessee town. It’s amazing that so many of these people could have bought the same lines about the health reform bills – and will not be corrected by the facts.
Very discouraging.
(Bart Gordon, a blue dog – but not the worst – to his credit, was very good. He repeatedly had to say to his constituents – with their inane statements, questions, “But that’s just not true Mr …., that’s not in any of the bills.”)