Mind-boggling, isn’t it? It’s really stunning what republicans can come up with. Pickles? People who use food stamps shouldn’t get to buy pickles because that would be a perk. Just shoot me now. I think “the legislature” is the new politically correct term for “institutional mental health care.” “Are you in ‘the legislature?'” “Oh yes. They’re very kind to me there and play along with my illness.” When exactly did stupidity become a virtue? When did lunacy become a point of pride?
Have you ever seen so many stupid, ridiculous, ignorant, crazy, clueless people who have actually been elected to office? What is the deal? The crazier you are the more appealing? The stupider and more ignorant you are the larger the number of people who want you to hold public office? How did this happen? I know I’m not the only one who has found this to be confusing and appalling:
“Spouting off about stuff you know nothing about is traditionally considered unwise. But as the Republican war on science intensifies, ignorance has started to become not only less of a handicap, but a point of pride. In the face of expertise and facts, being belligerently ignorant—and offended that anyone dare suggest ignorance is less desirable than knowledge—has become the go-to position for many conservative politicians and pundits. Sadly, it’s a strategy that’s working, making it harder every day for liberals to argue the value of evidence and reason over wishful thinking and unblinking prejudice.
The strategy is to hold out ignorance to be the equivalent of expertise and simply dare your opponents to try to do anything about it.” Amanda Marcotte, Alternet
Marcotte is talking about science in this statement, but her view is just as applicable to pretty much any subject. These “legislators” hold so many unbelievably ridiculous beliefs, it makes you wonder where they all came from all of a sudden. Outer space, perhaps? Real humans have been taken over by the dumb and dumber pod people?
Since it’s impossible to counter an irrational belief using a rational argument, does anybody have any ideas about what regular, rational people can do about this? HELP.
Therapeutic Whining 
Evidently it is not such a new thing. Here is a quote from Isaac Asimov which describes what you were talking about to a T: ” Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.”
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