Political Pun or Ditz?

When it comes to politics, I am basically an idiot. Or, perhaps, it is kinder to say I’m uninformed. But that’s much too self-forgiving a perspective. Perhaps, the right way to frame it is that I am ignorant about all things political. But, I wonder, is this the worst thing?

Alright, maybe, in a democratic society, you could argue that I have a civic duty to keep up with the issues and cast my vote, etc. But do I? Isn’t part of my right as an American to be completely ass-backwardly ignorant? I like to think so and, in fact, am supported in this by one of my favorite weekly podcasts (This American Life) http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/585/in-defense-of-ignorance and, ironically, Macklemorehttps://www.bing.com/search?q=macklemore+american&filters=ufn%3a%22macklemore+american%22+sid%3a%223adf7eac-8ec7-4e2f-5fa6-8b47e14a8297%22&form=EDGEAR&qs=MB&cvid=d6ac8e21c8e34089845fdde57e315079&pq=macklemore+american+song.

Oops. Perhaps, the Macklemore song illustrates a different kind of American ignorance. Shall we call it Trumpsonian ignorance? Even I, who have been living under a rock, know that this next presidential election is a bit like choosing between a rainstorm and a tsunami. Both will be bad, but one will be catastrophic. And, if I was in any doubt about this fact, going to see 1812’s satirical political comedy, “This Is The Week That Is,” Wednesday night (on opening night) brought this into sharp and hilarious focus.

I highly suggest you go see it. http://1812productions.org/this-is-the-week-that-is.html

Think Donald Trump, draped in red satin, singing and a drunken, dancing Hilary Clinton. There were too many laugh-out-loud moments to enumerate. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKI5n4V9bUw

But, seriously, I’m not one of those people who follows politics, partly because I have an expansive, busy life and, to really do justice to my political education, I’d have to devote time to the study of it and partly because the news only offers fragments of the truth, but mainly because I suffer from the Dunning-Kruger Effect. I form an opinion and hold to that opinion without realizing just how idiotic I actually am. (Sound familiar, Trump fans?)

Then, again, if you’re like me and don’t watch the news or read the paper or leave the house on voting day and if, unlike me, you feel at all guilty about this, I say let’s look to George Carlin for some words of wisdom.

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=george+carlin+why+i+don%27t+vote&view=detail&mid=917F3A5AEEC185701634917F3A5AEEC185701634&FORM=VIRE

So, yeah, my advice: Go see “This Is The Week That Is.” You’ll learn more from that than from the news, laugh a lot, and basically feel really happy despite the fact that the next four years are gonna either be torrential or tyrannical.