We'd best wise up or we'll end up with an unqualified idiot in the White House

When did we get so dumb?

Why do we applaud when a political candidate ridicules a potential opponent for taking a bathroom break? Why do we cheer when a politician says he’d stop Muslims from entering the country? Why is it OK for politicians to rail against the persecution of one religious group and not the persecution of another? What good does it do to advocate the elimination of a health care system with no idea of how to replace it?

Oh . . . and on and on.

We’re dumb and lazy.

We cheer those things now that help soothe our fear, and often visceral hate for not only the current President, but also those who may be different than us. A black President, who has, despite proving to be a pretty moderate head of state, continues to draw the ire of Republicans on the right, often simply because of the color of his skin. No? Then please explain to me what policies, specifically, he favored that you oppose. Not in a rhetorical sense . . . but factually. In reality, and out of the political campaign disorder.

Many people aren’t happy with the Affordable Care Act, of course, in part because some saw their premiums go up and their coverage change. Yep, some premiums went up (as they always do with insurance), and some coverage changed. One of the biggest changes was that no longer could insurance companies drop a person because they get sick or prevent them from getting insurance because of pre-existing conditions. The ACA has enabled more than 8 million people to get insurance coverage, pulling most of them out of expensive emergency room visits. The program is far from perfect and should be nipped and tucked to broaden its base, trim costs and encourage not only more people to enter the system, but also encourage states and insurance companies to expand health care options and providers.

For those fundamentally opposed to any sort of national health care program, I’d remind them that Medicare is a single-payer program, and the one upon which most private insurance companies base their coverage. By taking down obstructionist regulations (like preventing coverage from one state to another or trying to limit expansion of the health care exchanges), the health care system will evolve into one that will offer better overall coverage to more people. We have had the most expensive health care system in the world but fall way down the list in overall care, (37th) well behind countries like Canada, France, Spain, Italy, Norway, the United Kingdom and others, according to the World Health Organization.

It would be a mistake to tear apart a system without offering something better, and we need to look around the world and see what works elsewhere, not just assume we do everything better than everyone else . . . since that’s obviously not the case.

So let the facts speak . . .

We love politicians who say we have become weak, or an embarrassment around the world. That’s rhetoric. Tell me how. Then tell me what you’d do to make it better.

Specifically, not some “Well, we’d get the best managers in the world. I know how to get things done.” That’s not a policy or position. That’s fluff, designed to appeal to our dumbness. Offering no information or insight, just words meant to soothe us.

Moderation is hard to find amongst the GOP candidates this year . . . Banning Muslims (while apparently ignoring the Muslims serving in our military or other Muslim citizens), claims that Islam is not protected under the First Amendment, promises to ignore Supreme Court rulings that he (Huckabee) feels aren’t in keeping with God’s laws, carpet bombing Syrian cities to destroy ISIS, anti-science positions that include spreading anti-vaccine myths, opposing abortion without any exceptions, or returning to a gold standard that would be impossible in today’s worldwide financial markets, offer tax plans that give breaks to the wealthy and corporations but offer little consideration to the middle class, oppose equal pay for women or raising the minimum wage, and seem to have nothing to say about the nation’s growing economic inequalities.

So they make up fights where there really are no fights. Scream anti-government rants without any factual backing, and focus on addressing emotional or perceived problems rather than real ones.

But we’re dumb, so we don’t bother to scrape away at the claims and look a bit deeper. Politicians, particularly Donald Trump, has tapped into angry white America. While so-called conservatives don’t like any budget compromises, they ignore the past when Republicans controlled all three branches of government and raised the budget, deficit and overall national debt.

But now it’s blame, blame, blame.

Who will be blame when Obama’s out of office? Hillary if she wins? Sure, even though she’s a pretty mainstream politician, offering standard lines on Democratic issues and little in the way of off-the-path ideas. Bernie certainly has been consistent over the years, but will his “free college,” or tax plans draw much fire from opponents? Bernie the non-establishment candidate in a Democratic Party filled with establishment candidates, and Trump is a non-establishment candidate in a Republican Party filled with a cluster of non-establishment candidate who this far have been carving up the establishment.

In August, we wrote . . .

“Don’t shake your head, Trump is headed to the White House.”

“Fear of The Donald is tempering news coverage, and he's driving the Republican campaign bus.

 So we have Donald Trump, in part the result of a weak party struggling to find its voice, despite being dealt favorable hand after favorable hand. He rises out of a huge field that was said to be broad and strong. Trump, the polished chrome hotel guy, stands head and shoulders above the pack. He is outdistancing the herd by tons. He’s killing his rivals, whether you think he’s a serious candidate or not . . . he’s headed for primary win after primary win, according to the current polls.”

So we’ve stayed pretty dumb, soaking up the stupid rhetoric and ignoring issues that are important to all of us, like health care, jobs, the economy, taxes and a changing military.

I hope we can get back on track. Trump may be leading the Republican polling, but we’ll see how he does when the caucuses and primaries start. Will we stay dumb through the whole process, or will we start to demand more from our candidates . . . more of what makes a leader worthy of leading America? Right now we’re embracing candidates who are neither worthy of representing their once great party nor of leading this great nation.