Post-modern epistemological relativism
by digby
Curious about how your average right wingers are interpreting the debt ceiling crisis? I was, so I perused the comments underneath The Hill’s story about Jon Kyl’s bizarroworld Saturday address to the nation:
Kyl said taxes are the sticking point between the parties.
“The simple fact is, in order to afford the kind of government this president wants, taxes would have to be increased dramatically – and for middle income Americans, not just on the wealthy,” he said.
“President Obama is simply too committed to the European-style of big government that his policies have set in motion.”
When you just lie outright, you can expect that people who are listening will be confused. Here’s a random sample of the comments:
Democrats are raising taxes on the middle class. BIG SURPRISE LMAO!
If you raise taxes at all, you raise taxes on eveyone through consumer prices.
Who cares? Fix the debt problem Senate!
BY TAKEMTOTHEWOODSHED on 07/30/2011 at 07:55No they just want the economic news hidden from the front page.The recession double dip is here.President Obama and the california delegation of university lounge lizards have destroyed the country in less that 2 years.A feat no one can beat with a stick on the back of the american unemployed. 30million workers are stuck in poverty for many years thanks to california liberals,and harry reid
BY JONNIE on 07/30/2011 at 07:56I did read at the daily caller that the Reid Bill counts on raising taxes from present day an additional 3.8 Trillion. So if he cut 2.2 trillion wouldn’t that make it 6 trillion going to the deficit? If it is only 2.2 trillion than spending actually jumps 1.6 trillion. Slick…Reid…really slick. Get rid of this horrible bill…this is a disaster.
BY SUZY000 on 07/30/2011 at 08:15GOP Boehner and McConnell fall for the have to do a deal to be responsible nonsense. They don’t have to do any deal. They have to cut housing, education and welfare to zero. They have to end civil rights regulation that is a source of high tuition increases. They have to end 3rd world immigration that bankrupts government at all levels.
BY OLD ATLANTIC on 07/30/2011 at 08:20When Pelosi came out with her tax reform that would remove deductions for mortgage interest, and retirement account deductions. She took direct aim at the middle class. Her definition of the “uber” rich is you managed to keep up on your house payments, and still have a job that has a 401k, or you can still invest in a CD or IRA.
We should take a hard look at her tax returns and see what deductions she takes annually. She is in that over 250 thousand range. I would bet she has a list of deductions as long as her arm in fine print.
A fair tax. That way she too could pay taxes on what she spends.
You say a Fair tax would hurt those on Social Security? If Social Security is their only income with no other retirement income, Issue them an exemption card.
BY JB on 07/30/2011 at 08:25
I’m not even going to count the number of falsehoods and misinformation in those comments. But it should give you a clue as to how impossible it’s going to be to unravel the truth of what’s happened in this debate when the press is simply throwing up its hands for the most part and saying “both sides are equally guilty” and “they’re all just acting like children.”
Granted, these are obviously Republican partisans. But they aren’t the only ones listening to Jon Kyl. Or Limbaugh. Or Fox news. Or CNN for that matter, where they hire miscreants like Erick Erickson and treat their lies with respect.
This is the very essence of our problem. America in the 21st century is a post-modern epistemological relativist state in which the right creates its own alternate reality in real time. And there’s nobody to sort it out because the press gives equal weight to everyone. This is the world that produced Tea Partying congressmen who believe that default on the national debt is a rational policy to shrink government.
Or as Krugman sez:
People know that it happened, because Rush Limbaugh and the Wall Street Journal say so. But that doesn’t make it true.
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