I find an audience and then alienate him
Given that he is the first person ever to log a comment on my blog, it may be foolish to take issue with Doc Richard. But I was dismayed to discover from his website that there are some people seriously prepared to argue that Bush's election victory was the result of a giant fraud.
The counter-factuals to this claim seem so strong on the face of it that it does make me wonder once again about the great appeal of the conspiracy theory. More than anything, conspiracy explanations allow us not to face up to complexities and disappointments. Of course, constructing a conspiracy theory is not the only way to avoid facing up to things. My two gripes about the British liberal/left response to the Bush victory are that:
1) There is a tendency to caricature the Bush's supporters. One would be forgiven assuming from much of the commentary that they are predominantly fundamentalist Christians and/or neo-Con zealots and/or Forest Gump-like simpletons. In reality Bush's victory relied on a broad alliance of people, many of whom had little stomach for his social programme and had mixed feeling abut the Iraq war. As my exasperated 12 year old daughter concluded a political discussion with my American cousin 'you voted for Bush but you didn't agree with him'.
2) The continued focus on the States is a way of not thinking about a British dimension: Bush is the baddie and Blair is either led astray by him or else is a calming influence on him. The Bush victory should have got us beyond this but there is little sign so far.
Hopefully I haven't alienated Doc Richard with this. As compensation I will try and find out more about the "generator" theory of brain consciousness relationship.
The counter-factuals to this claim seem so strong on the face of it that it does make me wonder once again about the great appeal of the conspiracy theory. More than anything, conspiracy explanations allow us not to face up to complexities and disappointments. Of course, constructing a conspiracy theory is not the only way to avoid facing up to things. My two gripes about the British liberal/left response to the Bush victory are that:
1) There is a tendency to caricature the Bush's supporters. One would be forgiven assuming from much of the commentary that they are predominantly fundamentalist Christians and/or neo-Con zealots and/or Forest Gump-like simpletons. In reality Bush's victory relied on a broad alliance of people, many of whom had little stomach for his social programme and had mixed feeling abut the Iraq war. As my exasperated 12 year old daughter concluded a political discussion with my American cousin 'you voted for Bush but you didn't agree with him'.
2) The continued focus on the States is a way of not thinking about a British dimension: Bush is the baddie and Blair is either led astray by him or else is a calming influence on him. The Bush victory should have got us beyond this but there is little sign so far.
Hopefully I haven't alienated Doc Richard with this. As compensation I will try and find out more about the "generator" theory of brain consciousness relationship.
posted by David Skinner at 1:23 AM
1 Comments:
David, unlike a conspiracy theorist I am prepared to accept that Dubya did really get more votes than the late unlamented Kerry. My point is that there is a great deal of evidence - not conspiracy theory, real evidence - that his winning margin - if that was indeed the case - was inflated by a variety of antidemocratic means, from 4 hour waits to vote to rigged touch screens to crooked software. All I ask is that you take a look at the evidence collected on my site.
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