Stuck on Stupid

You may have noticed that politicians of both parties are quite prone to get stuck on stupid. That is they keep doing something that is obviously counterproductive given the costs to them of continuing to do that same thing over and over. There is usually a difference between both parties as to how they get stuck on stupid, however. Although the ideological disease strikes both parties to some extent, the Democrats are far more prone to succumb to the siren call of their far left agenda. As we have commented earlier, Ideologues Make Poor Politicians. Ideologues are so consumed with their agenda that they lose sight of the fact that if they cannot sell their agenda to a majority of the voters, they will soon will not be able to do anything about their agenda because they will be out of office.

This problem occurs because the ideologue is convinced that his or her agenda is morally correct and/or is good for the country and its people. This conviction borders on a religious fervor among ideologues. In the case of the Republican Party, this is found among the right to life contingent. Because they are convinced that the soul takes possession of the fetus at conception and not at birth, they are adamantly opposed to Roe vs. Wade and will do whatever it takes to get it repealed. The fact that this is not going to happen because a majority of the voters do not want it repealed is lost on them.

They continue to oppose Republican candidates who are not "right" on this issue even when it results in the election of a politician who is actually pro-abortion as opposed to pro-choice. Refusing to turn out and vote for McCain because he was not sufficiently pro-life even when Obama was clearly a pro-abortion candidate is a case in point. This is definitely being stuck on stupid because they can sell banning partial birth abortions, prohibiting denial of care to a fetus born alive, and prohibiting federal funding of abortions to a majority of the voters. An ideologue just is not willing to settle for half a loaf of bread. Instead they prefer to go down with their capsizing ideological ship.

What is interesting is that the left wing of the Democrat Party clearly sees that the pro-life folks have the position they do due to their religious beliefs. What they do not so that they are attached to their own beliefs with that same fervor even though by and large those beliefs have nothing to do with religion. To them their beliefs are not beliefs at all but are facts that anyone with a grain of intelligence should be able to understand. After all they are intelligent and all the intelligent people they know accept these facts so anyone who does not is automatically stuck on stupid in their mind. Global warming caused by man is an excellent point in fact for this. To them the science is settled and information that the scientific data used to come to this conclusion was rigged does not deter them from continuing to insist that they are right.

To them, the fact that everyone does not have health insurance or even if they do the cost is outrageous is a crying shame. Since the health insurance companies are charging too much they are part of the problem and not part of the solution so then we must turn to the federal government for a solution. The fact that the federal government has screwed up everything it has touched since day one is lost on them. The fact that they cannot point to one thing the federal government has successfully accomplished outside of the military and the space program, both of which they oppose, is beside the point to them. Needless to say, the resultant loss of freedom to make one's own choices is not worthy of consideration to them.

One can push an agenda but only when there is some hope of getting it accepted. The Democrat leadership is determined to keep pushing their health care agenda seemingly oblivious to the cost to them. President Obama proclaimed recently that he is not an ideologue. He is either lying or has no clue what an ideologue is and how one behaves. He fits the definition of an ideologue to a "T". To anyone not committed to this far left agenda, this is a no sale with the American people. To continue to push an agenda that is not selling is to be stuck on stupid.

The lessons of the elections in Virginia and New Jersey might be written off as a phenomenon of local politics. What then are we to make of losing a senate seat held for 60 years by Democrats to a Republican in the most Democrat state in the union? If this message is lost on the Democrat leadership they are indeed stuck on stupid. Yes, they can continue to try and jam their version of health care through using the reconciliation process but at what cost? A prominent Democrat political analyst, Charlie Cook, says, "it's very hard to come up with a scenario where Democrats don't lose the House."

Their only hope is to sucker the Republican leadership into going along with most of their proposals which is entirely possible since Republicans are far too prone to "go along and get along". Democrats play hardball in politics whereas Republicans tend to play with some sort of political Marquis of Queensbury rules and one hand hand tied behind their back. They just have no instinct for the jugular unlike the Democrats. This is a prime example of where the Republican leadership is stuck on stupid. However, that pales in comparison to the current Democrat leadership where continuing to push this agenda if they cannot sucker the Republicans is a sure way to stay stuck on stupid and lose the Senate as well.