Much of the country must be delusional

I once thought that the crazy factor in this country was only about 5% of the general population.

I’ve had to reconsider that assessment recently. 

If so many believe what they see on TV, online and in print, or the misinformation the POTUS spouts, it must be much higher.  How else can you explain so many people who now believe in an alternative reality unsupported by any rational thought or facts.

For example, a lot of people truly believe the economy is rapidly rebounding. Based on what?  Unemployment actually ticked up recently.  New jobs in the private sector are well behind what’s necessary for a recovery.  As many predicted, when the “stimulus” money ran out, state and local governments started laying off the folks whose jobs were once “saved.” 

Net/net we’re still in deep trouble on the job front. 

There are fewer Americans working now – as a percentage of the population – than at any time in recent history.  Meanwhile, the number of people claiming disability benefits -- often after exhausting their UC -- is soaring.  

Next, “Osama Bin Laden is dead, and GM is alive,” is a popular stump line for the current administration.  Well, Bin Laden is still dead – that’s true.  But GM is hardly is good shape.  To paraphrase Monty Python in the bring-out-your-dead scene, GM’s not dead, but it’s not well.  Not by a long shot.  It’s getting hammered in Europe, margins are way down here, and its costs are up. It’s on the rocks again. 

And yes, it still owes the government a boatload of money.  For us to break even on our investment in GM, we’d have to be able to sell the government’s shares for $53. Want to know how we’re doing?  Today, GM shares are selling at about $27.  Need I say more? 

Most people know that GM got billions from the government to “save” it, and they think that went to help GM the auto manufacturer.  Most don’t know that a lot of that money was used to bail out the financing arm of GM – GMAC – which, most people also don’t know, not only financed car purchases, but was also involved in a bunch of subprime mortgages. 

So do you know what happened to GMAC? 

Have you heard of Ally Bank?  Did you know that Ally Financial – the parent of Ally Bank – used to be GMAC?  That’s where part of the bail out of GM went; not to build cars and “save” the auto industry, but to bail out sketchy car loans and a bunch of subprime mortgages.  Ally Financial got $14.6 billion – the second largest of the TARP funds still owed to the government – and we still own 74% of it.   

And here’s another little tidbit:  Ally Financial is also in trouble, while the Feds are parking even more billions in it to try and make it look solvent.     

Here’s something else you also hear:  Obama saved GM from bankruptcy.  That’s simply not true.  GM went through bankruptcy under Obama’s watch, still got billions from the government, wiped out shareholder equity, and now apparently is struggling again.  I wonder how they’ll deal with the next bankruptcy for GM, since Obama supporters believe the most recent one never happened.   

Listen, it’s easy to blame the media for the glaring misconceptions now accepted as reality by so many.  But to be fair, it’s not entirely the media’s fault.  If you look hard enough, the facts are there – maybe buried at the very end of a long article, or glossed over dismissively – but the facts are usually there.

Too many people either don’t want to see anything that conflicts with their preconceived notions, or are too lazy to pursue anything more than a headline and first paragraph.

I suspect the biggest percentage is the former, and perhaps the most delusional.  (Although there are a lot of folks – especially the young – in the latter.)

In the former, you have people who have made up their minds that Obama’s the second coming, maybe the greatest President ever.  They think he’s doing a terrific job, anything bad is George Bush’s fault, all Republicans are inherently evil, all Democrats are inherently good, the national debt doesn’t matter, teachers don’t earn enough, unions built the middle class, and big government can solve any problem.  Oh, and the rich need to pay more in taxes or the middle class will have to. 

On the other side of that same group you have people who believe Obama’s the Antichrist.  They doubt his citizenship and think he’s a Muslim, a Communist, a leftist radical, a liar and someone who wants to be a dictator.  They also believe Obama wants to seize all guns, destroy western religions, abandon Israel, sell out to the Chinese and Russians, and open our borders to millions of illegal immigrants who he’ll immediately sign up as registered Democrats and put on our welfare rolls. 

(For the record, I don't believe Obama's the Antichrist.)

There’s nothing you can say or do to dissuade either faction from their beliefs.  And they view every bit of information they get through their warped perspective. 

They aren’t interested in facts.  They only listen to news sources that reinforce their views.  So you have those who only watch Fox and listen to Rush; others only watch MSNBC and listen to NPR. 

Their minds – and I use that term loosely – are made up for better or worse.  They are ideological bigots; they believe they are always right and everybody else is always wrong.  And it doesn’t end there: those who disagree with them are also evil and must be stopped by whatever means necessary. 

To some Democrats and liberals, George W. Bush could rescue a room full of babies, puppies and kittens from a burning building, bring peace to the Middle East, and cure AIDS and cancer and they would still find reasons to blame him for everything wrong with our country. If Obama did all the same things, it wouldn’t change the opinions of some Republicans and conservatives, either.          

That’s just crazy.  And that’s why I have to adjust my crazy factor – I fear the number might be over 50% of the country.      

Otherwise, despite all the evidence to the contrary, why do so many still believe:

• There’s never been  any voter fraud … 
• Al Gore won in Florida …
• Requiring a photo ID to vote is a violation of civil rights …
• The government can spend more than it takes in indefinitely …
• The national debt doesn’t matter …
• “Green energy” alternatives are being stifled by the oil companies …
• Insuring millions more people won’t cost anything …
• ObamaCare will reduce everybody’s insurance premiums …
• There’s very little waste in government …
• We’re not spending too much; we’re just not getting enough revenue in …
• Public workers’ pay and benefits are about the same as in the private sector …  
• Entitlements spending needs to be expanded, not reined in …
• There’s very little waste and fraud in entitlements and social programs …
• Illegal immigrants aren’t receiving Federal benefits …
• Changing the magazine size will cut down on gun violence …
• Banning certain types of guns will reduce gun violence …
• If we pay teachers more we’ll have a better education system …
• The 1st Amendment gives free speech protection only to people you agree with …
• GW Bush only invaded Iraq because GHW Bush wanted to get even …
• The Palestinians are freedom fighters …  
• 911 was engineered by Israel and the Bush Administration …

Honestly, to believe all that, you must be crazy. 

But that’s what a lot of Americans fervently believe.  Since there are proven facts to contradict all those beliefs, you can come to only one conclusion …

There are a lot of delusional people here.