Say Anything Blog

He’s not going to let “them” shut him up:

This stuff’s not an accident. Nobody in this room should think this is an accident. You know, I’m out there speaking up for universal healthcare, ending this war in Iraq, speaking up for the poor. They want to shut me up. That’s what this is about. “Let’s distract from people who don’t have health care coverage. Let’s distract from people who can’t feed their children…. Let’s talk about this silly frivolous nothing stuff so that America won’t pay attention.”

They will never silence me. Never.

If we don’t stand up to these people, if we don’t fight em, if we don’t beat them, they’re going to continue to control this country. Thye’re going to control the media. They’re going to control what’s being said. They do not want to hear us talking about health care for everybody.

Anyone else noticing that this martyr/victim theme is a key component of Edwards’ campaign?  Everyone but the rich people and corporations of this country are victims, and Edwards is going to use the power of the government to make things even.  Even Edwards himself dons the mantle of the victim, using his cancer-stricken wife as a campaign prop and complaining about the media’s coverage of his absurd hair styling bills.  It’s all “us vs. them.”  Populist rage against the machine.

In Edwards’ world, people aren’t poor because they refuse to get an education, abuse drugs or alcohol and/or are too lazy to provide for themselves.  They’re poor because of greedy big-business.  In Edwards’ world, he’s not a pretentious fop because he spends a cool grand on a trim and a manicure.  He’s a pretentious fop because the media reports on his $1000 haircuts and casts him that way.

See?  It’s not his fault.  He’s not responsible for his own actions.  It’s a media conspiracy!

But is anyone buying this?  Do Americans really want to see themselves as victims?  Maybe some do (all the better to avoid responsibility for their own choices and actions), but for me leadership is about using the power of government to empower people.  And you don’t empower people by telling them they’re victims and promising to bring them all sorts of goodies from the national treasury. 

You empower people by making them more responsible for themselves.  More dependent on their own choices and actions than on the actions of politicians.  Edwards doesn’t want independent citizens.  He wants citizens dependent on the government.  All the better to control them.

All of history’s tyrants rose to power by using “us versus them” rhetoric to consolidate government power.  Some have even been fearful (and rightfully so in some instances) that Bush has used the “us versus them” nature of the war on terror to consolidate government power. It’s something we as vigilant free citizens must watch out for.  But using the fear of “big business” and media conspiracies to scare people into voting for you is no better than using the fear of terrorism to do it.