The Patriot Act and Other Political Propaganda

 

There are some people in the U.S. who I wish would fore-go their voting privileges this next election. Unlike Ann Coulter, who says she would gladly give up her right to vote if the rest of the nation’s women would do so because they elect Democrats- I just want people to be informed before they go off to the polls and help elect another George W. Bush. If people can, in good conscious, elect someone like him and know exactly what they are doing, they are entitled and justified to do so. But there are too many people in this country who do not pay enough attention to the candidates and rely solely on what they hear through word-of-mouth encounters, or worse, what they are hearing from the candidates themselves. As we all know, there is no such thing as a trustworthy politician, but I think we should all try to find one that doesn’t completely disgust us and one who values the U.S. Constitution.

To further illustrate my point, there is a little gem floating around cyberspace right now. It is an open letter to the American people which is signed, “Jay Leno.” Well, there are a couple of problems with this letter. One problem is that it was not written by Jay Leno at all. It is an internet hoax which started in September 2005 and was written by this guy. The other problem is that the letter is serving its intended purpose: to attract and misinform people by representing itself as being written by a celebrity. The letter calls Americans “spoiled brats” who have everything that they need and should stop complaining about the government and focus on their liberties. There are a lot more than a couple of problems with that.

World War II-Era Popeye Cartoon

I have seen this letter posted in numerous bulletins by friends I have on Myspace.com. None of these friends are particularly politically savvy or active and it bothers me that this drivel is being used as propaganda to target people exactly like them. The letter rails against people who are politically on the left, creating a sense of entitlement and self-righteousness. It is veiled by references to the Patriot Act, which is in and of itself propaganda. The Patriot Act’s name was designed to scare people into supporting it in the sense that if you do not, you are not patriotic and must hate America. I know that nothing I say can make a person care about politics if they just don’t care, but if people want to be part of the political process, why should they spend the rest of the presidential term feeling like they have to defend their misinformed vote when everything starts going to hell in a hand-basket? People are too proud to admit to mistakes, which is why half of the people who voted for Bush in 2004 won’t admit it was a mistake, but mark my words: our next president will be a Democrat.

Now-Infamous Ad about Tennessee Congressional Candidate, Harold Ford

The letter in question is just one of many tactics that are commonly used to try and sway ignorant people to their side. In the world of politics, this can be crucial. Just as Hillary Clinton and Rudy Guiliani are counting on the votes of the currently undecided, so has every other major presidential candidate since the beginning of time. The currently undecided tend to be politically neutral and many times tend to also be young people between the ages of 18 and 25. The Right-Wingers are not the only ones guilty of this. Liberal activists use these types of hoaxes all the time to try to get attention and support for their issues. In October 2002, an email began circulating on the internet claiming that 25 women in Congress orchestrated a walk-out during a vote to protest use of military force in Iraq. The letter did not even manage to name factual people in Congress and no such thing ever occurred. In this case, the attempt was to sway women in particular into an antiwar mindset.

It seems an overwhelming amount of young people in America believe to a startling degree some of the garbage that circulates on the internet and this makes me sad. My plea is to stop being ignorant, get involved, and make an educated choice on what kind of person you want to be our next president. It may not be interesting now, but eventually it will be when high school seniors are being sent off to war or the government is throwing you in jail indefinitely without charging you with any particular crime, or when your phone is tapped for no real reason other than it’s legal. That’s what the government calls patriotic.

©2007 LBB

~ by tex on October 17, 2007.