CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Simplicity is the loveliest feature of democracy that led philosophers from Socrates to Hobbes reject it for about 2,000 years.
If decision-making power went to the people, the old rationale went, their simple minds will would require a simplified truth, and there’s no such thing. Modern philosophy disagreed, since condensed truth can be rehydrated by a better-educated electorate. So, it endorsed democracy.
But the newest philosophy — mine — says that though people are much smarter now, we still have echoes of our former simple selves. That’s why the best candidate does not always win.
For instance, the man who currently boasts the record for highest presidential disapproval rating was once reelected — clearly, simpletons vote. Perhaps the electorate repudiated their simple-mindedness by voting smarter in the 2006 midterm elections. But they may not remember to do so in 2008 because a presidential election really brings out the part of human nature those old philosophers feared. Whereas midterm elections are about the issues, presidential elections are only about caricatures.
Barack Obama is charismatic; John McCain is old; Hillary Clinton is an iron maiden. What will emerge between now and November will hinge on these simplifications, political insight and political humor alike:
Conservative pundit: Senator McCain is the son of an admiral, fought in Vietnam, and endured five years as a prisoner of war. The Clinton camp says the presidency is all about experience, and guess what, she’s right — vote for McCain.
Or
Humorist: Did you hear that John McCain plans to add a new position to the Cabinet? It’s called Secretary of Where-Did-I-Leave-My-Slippers?
Simplicity is not a problem, per se. It is a necessary consequence of an information-intensive society where, frozen by the tomes of information available, the public finds it easier to adopt handy generalizations to make it through the day. Actually, it is a feature of human nature; in psychology, these shortcuts are called heuristics (hyŏŏ-rĭs'tĭk). They are even sometimes useful, though always unavoidable.
A problem only arises when simplicity fails us and we get the caricature wrong, a failure that is exemplified by the Bush administration.
But I contend that we have the caricature all wrong. I do not think one manages to make it to ... the Oval Office without at least some savvy. President Bush’s characterization has been reduced now to one handy heuristic: incompetence. Whether support comes from the intelligence errors that led to war in Iraq, the mishandling of Hurricane Katrina or the artless attempts to violate various civil liberties, the president seems to always get caught.
And, like some boy discovered with his hand in the cookie jar who then sheepishly removes a hand still clutching cookies, he hopes to get a tasty bite before Helen Thomas knocks them out of his hand. Or, perhaps, his hand gets stuck and, stupidly, he decides to keep it in there, refusing to withdraw prematurely.
This caricature has solidified over the past seven years, but it began in the election of 2000—specifically, right when we came to see Al Gore as a snooty robot and Bush as just a little slow.
But I contend that we have the caricature all wrong. I do not think one manages to make it to Yale, Harvard and the Oval Office without at least some savvy. Many who have met President Bush describe him as a perceptive, cunning and confident man. Pundits and humorists alike have missed his true nature. And the president has played along, occasionally making up words while more members of his administration resign than Nixon’s. To the audience that expects stupidity, it is the equivalent of “Oops!”
I assert his true caricature is not idiocy but religious audacity. A Born Again Christian, President Bush has allowed his religious beliefs to dominate his presidency. He once called his legacy “this crusade, this war on terrorism.” He holds Bible study in the White House. In 2000, he said, “I believe God wants me to be president.”
Incompetence is not an impeachable offense, but serving God first and the American people second violates the Constitution ...The last ruler of America to do so much to undermine the separation of church and state was King George III.
Incompetence might turn a just war sour, but only the blindest hubris can doom a war before it even starts. The WMD justification for the Iraq War was essentially an act of faith, except it was the inappropriate kind that can actually be disproven (and was). I wonder if our President ever prayed that he would be vindicated … which would mean he prayed for a madman to have nukes. At least Bush’s faith-based failures resolve that age-old theological dilemma: it is possible to make a rock (Read: Iraq, i-rahk) so heavy not even he can lift it.
Incompetence is not an impeachable offense, but serving God first and the American people second violates the Constitution, the oath he took, and the trust of his constituents.
In future elections, let’s please try to pick the right caricatures.
[Gallup, BBC, USAToday, NYTimes, DiDictRef1, DiDictRef2]
Jeff Dubbin is a member-at-large of TheSequitur.com editorial board.
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