Enthusiam Gap Dummies

I was at a ball game the other day with a friend of mine and when you're in a space with a concentrated group of people, like a stadium or a bus or subway train, you can't help but hear their conversations. And then when I see or hear stupidity it triggers this underlying thought that I have every now and then.

That thought is this: I consider myself of average to slightly above average intelligence, but when I'm in those group situations and look around me and hear what's going on around me, I feel like I'm probably in the top 10% in terms of intelligence. Try it sometime. Go to a ball game or a concert. I'll go to a Mets game and sit in my normal section and I'm probably Einstein compared to some of these neanderthals. How do I know? Because of news like this:

The Republican National Convention has given John McCain and his party a significant boost, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll taken over the weekend shows, as running mate Sarah Palin helps close an "enthusiasm gap" that has dogged the GOP all year.

McCain leads Democrat Barack Obama by 50%-46% among registered voters, the Republicans biggest advantage since January and a turnaround from the USA TODAY poll taken just before the convention opened in St. Paul. Then, he lagged by 7 percentage points.

An "enthusiasm gap"? Are you fucking kidding me? They can exaggerate, distort the truth, flat out lie and not explain any detailed policy proposals, but as long as you can chant "Drill, baby! Drill!" and "USA!" to raise the fucking "enthusiasm gap" within your party and appeal to the lowest common denominator - the uninformed and ignorant who flip out over a pig¹ in lipstick - you can make what should be an obvious choice, a coin flip.

Then you have these so called "pundits" to give their opinion who are nothing more than political operatives. Don't believe me? The next time you hear Pat Buchanan open his mouth, take a close listen. He's not there to give you his informed, objective opinion of both sides, he's there to repeat talking points he was told to repeat. Flip to any channel and you'll get the same exact wording. That is not a coincidence.

When you have Republican "strategists" like Mike Murphy and Peggy Noonan praising the Palin pick on camera, but calling it "political bullshit" and "cynical" off camera, what is the point of having them on? It's not to inform us, it's to dupe us - to pull the wool over our eyes - it's equivalent to a shill at the three-card monte game.

When that asshole Michael Steele, Lieutenant Governor of Maryland and chairman of GOPAC makes an appearance on Bill Maher (9/5 episode transcript not yet available) and says that McCain's acceptance speech was rife with details while Obama's lacked any substance, look out for the wolf that's sneaking up behind you and about to rip off your scrotum. Talk about through the looking glass! Guys like that really piss me off because here's a man who's definitely smarter than I am, but shows contempt for my intelligence by feeding us bullshit lines like that. That and the fact that he chanted "Drill, baby. Drill!" as well. Fucking asshole.

When pigs like Sarah Palin demean the work of community organizers in her comparison to Barack Obama (as if that's the only thing he's ever done), but while Obama was community organizing, Palin was running for Miss Alaska, someone has to call the bullshit out for what it is.

So go out there and spread the truth because we need to do everything we can this November to win the three-card monte game of voter suppression, electronic voting machines, absentee and mail-in ballots and caging lists. Did you get an e-mail from someone calling Obama a Muslim? Fact check it and send it back not only to the person that sent it to you, but to every person on the forwarded list. I've done it multiple times and have yet to get a argumentative response, mostly thanks for the information. Did you hear someone praising Palin at the local Starbucks? Ask them why they like her in an inquisitive, non-threatening way and let them know what she's said, debunk her lies (like the bridge to nowhere, pork, trooper-gate, Iraq War is a "task from God") and see what they have to say. Will they act surprised or blow you off because they're a wingnut? Either way, perhaps you've spread the seed of doubt to the uninformed and maybe stirred them to actually look up information on their own instead of watching Fox News.

We have to fight back, and fight back hard. (I'm loving Joe Biden's speeches and appearances, but it's time to start toning down the preemptive praise of McCain.) So the next time you're in a public place, look around. Do you think you're in the top 10% of those around you in pure brain cell count alone? You probably are. Then inform them.

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¹ - That's not a mistake. After her display at the RNC, I don't consider Sarah Palin a "pitbull in lipstick" I consider her a "pig."