Somebody missed the memo

Someone needs to tell Michelle Bachmann that the Arab Spring is actually a good thing.  It's the uprising of oppressed people to overcome dictators and fight for their freedom. My guess is that she hears "Arab" and automatically thinks "bad", "scary" and "Obama".

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By the way, she's also totally twisting the Isreal thing...

So then we agree...?

I have an uncontrollable need to find logic in things.  It's the way my brain works, the way I'm wired.  It's the reason I've ruined several of my friends' attempts to surprise me on special occasions.  I ask too many questions when things seem off.  I crave details and need to connect every dot.  I'm like an annoying 5 year old who won't stop asking "but why?". When things don't make sense, I can't let it go.

I've realized that this is exactly why I get so frustrated with politics.  Logic, seemingly, is optional.  Politicians, pundits and public figures can contradict themselves, ignore facts or leave gaps in reasoning without consequence.  If they only knew how many hours of sleep they've stolen from me, maybe they would be kind enough to stop.  I think my cats can even sense the stress it puts me through.

I'll admit this happens on both sides, but as you can probably guess, I see it MUCH more on the right than the left.  Just watch any of the debates.  They're "the party of life" except when it comes to executions (regardless of shoddy evidence).  They want small government, except when it comes to the military. They would never ever under any circumstances raise taxes (and that includes closing loopholes!), except for middle class taxes. They're mostly Christians, except they have no sympathy for the poor. (It's the only reason I have more respect for Ron Paul than most other candidates - as crazy as he is, at least he's consistent.)

The way I sort this out in my head is to tie it all back to their motivations.  Since there is always a clear line to corporate and personal profit, that's usually enough for me to just say "okay, the people promoting these ideas are mostly terrible human beings, liars and thieves, but at least the dots are connected."

They do at least attempt to come up with some logical cover stories, i'll give them that.  They're organized and have a fantastic PR team. They even created a whole theory of economics to try to make it sound like they're not ripping us off.

They claim we need to lower corporate tax rates and reduce regulations in order to reduce unemployment.  I'm no business school grad or anything (yes I am) but if I were running a company and sales were flat or down, lowering my taxes or softening the rules wouldn't make me hire more. Why would I bring in more people if I don't have work for them to do?  I would only hire more people if I have more customers...i.e. demand-side economics.  You know, what those hippy radical liberals (and Nobel prize winning economists) suggest.

But it's no matter, that's their story and they're sticking to it.  And because it sounds remotely logical to people with the critical thinking skills of a fourth-grader, half of the American public goes along with it.  (Except when you break it down for them, in which case they lean left.)

The only problem is, the politicians themselves sometimes forget their lines.  For example, Mitt Romney was on Morning Joe the other day, and said this (the video is too long to post, but if you want to see it go here, it starts around the 2:55 mark):

"Our president may be a nice guy, but our president doesn't have a clue when it comes to getting this economy going again...he doesn't understand how the private sector works...he thinks if you've got cash on your balance sheet, that means you're going to go hire people.  No, you hire people if you've got customers."

Isn't that exactly what I just said?  Isn't that the opposite of what he's supposed to be saying??  If a company won't hire just because they have enough money to do it, why put MORE cash in their pockets via lower taxes and less regulations?  If it's customers they want, wouldn't it make sense to keep money in those pockets?  The ones belonging to people who go out and spend it?  By, I don't know, cutting their taxes, hiring them to rebuild schools and roads, not firing them just because they're state/federal employees, not cutting off their unemployment benefits, welfare, medicare, social security, etc?  By, say, passing the American Jobs Act?

Apparently not, Mr. President.  Apparently you're the one who doesn't understand how to get this economy going again.

If anyone reading this has any explanation that can help me better understand what I'm missing here, I would honestly, sincerely love to hear it. I'm not saying that sarcastically, I just need to reconnect the dots.  It's past my bedtime.

Sorry for another long rant, I guess I should post more often so it doesn't build up and boil over...