Working People Up into an Emotional Frenzy
Some people are up in arms about an upcoming national address to school students by President Obama.
This really isn't about a speech by the president to the nation's students. Much of the hate and discontent is encouraged by those who have a vested interest in the public being distracted from the healthcare bills working their way through Congress. When people get emotionally worked up about anything whether it's "death panels", "same sex marriage", "where Obama was born", "open carry of weapons" etc, they go into a defensive posture, circle the wagons and cling to familiar associations such as democrat vs republican, liberal vs conservative. It is easier to influence people who are agitated -- especially if tearing something down or preventing change is your goal.
The emotional agitation surrounding the poll about Obama addressing students is as close as I've ever seen to that moment when the underlying cruelty of the anti-communist crusade led by Senator McCarty in the early 1950s was most clearly revealed as McCarthy began questioning Senator Welch about the associations of one of his law clerks. Welch came back at McCarthy with his famous line in defense of his young law clerk who McCarthy was attempting to destroy. "You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?" McCarthy had a vested interest in stirring up anti-communism. It enhanced his status and power and distracted people from his own incompetency as a senator.
Today, it becomes painfully apparent how emotionally worked up and disconnected from reason many people have become when the idea that the President of the United States should address students about the value of education and setting goals in life becomes a subject of controversy. How can intelligent discussion of health care take place in such an environment?
This really isn't about a speech by the president to the nation's students. Much of the hate and discontent is encouraged by those who have a vested interest in the public being distracted from the healthcare bills working their way through Congress. When people get emotionally worked up about anything whether it's "death panels", "same sex marriage", "where Obama was born", "open carry of weapons" etc, they go into a defensive posture, circle the wagons and cling to familiar associations such as democrat vs republican, liberal vs conservative. It is easier to influence people who are agitated -- especially if tearing something down or preventing change is your goal.
The emotional agitation surrounding the poll about Obama addressing students is as close as I've ever seen to that moment when the underlying cruelty of the anti-communist crusade led by Senator McCarty in the early 1950s was most clearly revealed as McCarthy began questioning Senator Welch about the associations of one of his law clerks. Welch came back at McCarthy with his famous line in defense of his young law clerk who McCarthy was attempting to destroy. "You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?" McCarthy had a vested interest in stirring up anti-communism. It enhanced his status and power and distracted people from his own incompetency as a senator.
Today, it becomes painfully apparent how emotionally worked up and disconnected from reason many people have become when the idea that the President of the United States should address students about the value of education and setting goals in life becomes a subject of controversy. How can intelligent discussion of health care take place in such an environment?
posted by Glenn Harvey at 11:04 AM
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