As I watch the four-ring circus that is tonight's GOP primary, I've been struck by one grossly inaccurate position to which three of the four candidates cling mightily.
Why is it that so many politicians proclaim, without any evidence, that our world is becoming increasingly more dangerous? If anything, history indicates that our world has become increasingly more safe.
The last decade has seen fewer war deaths than any decade in the last century.
Deaths from terrorism have been nearly constant for over a generation, even as the population of our planet has increased by over 30 percent.
25 years after the end of the Cold War, any nuclear threat that still exists is far smaller and more regional in nature.
World governments devote greater resources to intelligence and counter-terrorism now than ever before.
And yet, to continue feeding the beast that is the Department of Defense, and to pander to hawkish conservatives who aren't happy unless we're fighting someone or blowing up their stuff, Republicans continuously promote this flawed vision of a world that is eternally one step away from Armageddon.
The absurdity of the argument, to any rational thinker, is positively flabbergasting.
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It may not make sense to listen to this irrational tripe; but, boy does it make sense to let it rip if you're on the stump. The "constant threat" argument is one of the few panders that simultaneously appeals to all three segments of the Reagan Coalition.
Obviously, it gets the hawks all hot and bothered; but the threat of Armageddon also dovetails nicely with social/religious conservatives who think that such devastation is a consequence of gay marriage or believe that Jesus will be returning on a wave plutonium fallout any day now. It also works with the libertarian shut-ins who have been foolishly hoarding gold coins all these years waiting for the race war that will prove ditching the Gold Standard was a mistake (and that their "investments" were actually shrewd).
There you go: a dog whistle that subconsciously appeals to the lunatic fringes of each element of the Reagan triad. When pandering is that easy, who needs to worry about making real policy?
What, Armageddon is not around the corner? and yet we have so many ominous signs...
Not the least of which The Chief seems to have shut down his blog. Or at least made it "invitation only". And, I'm not invited.
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