TFD Opinions: The American People Want, Know, Think

There are some catchphrases that politicians like to use that just annoy the hell out of me. Back during the peak of the Iraq war, it was "I've talked to the generals." It was noteworthy that the "generals" that the politician spoke to always agreed with exactly what the politician's opinion was. The new phrase is "The American people [verb]." It's not bad enough that politicians pretend to speak for the American people, it's that they're not even telling the truth when they do so.

First of all, the entire country is not a monolithic entity. Just because 52% of people think something does not mean it's the opinion of the country. That's a slim majority, ironically not even enough to pass something in the Senate yet enough to claim that the country thinks it. Sometimes it's not even a majority. Something is favored 42% to 34% with everyone else undecided and politicians have the nerve to claim that the entire country is behind that view. This is similar to the insane notion that if you get 51% of the vote out of the 60% of the country that bothers to vote, that equals a mandate to enact your entire agenda.

As if that's bad enough, many politicians will claim the American people think something when it's actually the minority view. The latest example of this is that the American people want spending cuts and no tax increases. Republicans just keep saying it even though polls clearly indicate that not only do a majority of "the American people" favor using both spending cuts and tax increases, but even a majority of Republicans favor a mixed approach. We no longer live in a society of facts. Politicians are behind the repetition theory of truth. If you say anything enough, even if it's totally false, then it becomes true. "The American people" shouldn't stand for that and the lazy profit-driven media should do something to assist them instead of presenting every opinion or statement, no matter how ludicrous, as deserving equal credit and consideration.

I'll tell you what the American people want. They want the debt ceiling passed, they want the unemployment rate lowered, and they want a Congress that cares more about the American people than partisan politics and re-election bids. They're not going to get it.