This morning, Andrew Sullivan waxes poetic about how our democracy is now debating the Richard Clarke testimony. He actually seems to think (1) there is an intelligent debate going on and (2) it is good and enlightened and all that. Are you kidding me? Millions of imbeciles catching a few TV soundbites and parroting either anti-Bush or pro-Bush propaganda is somehow equivalent to a meaningful debate? It's somehow good? We need to get over our righteous self-satisfaction with the "democratic process" and "good citizenship" and all the rest of that crap. We live in a declining, decadent culture that is fairly incapable of producing high-level political dialogue and debate. We are extraordinarily ill-informed, as a people, about . . . well, about damn near everything. To think that in this context we can mimic some sort of ancient civic virtue is laughable. My rule of thumb is the less the American public hears about, thinks about, or has even the least bit of indirect say in an important issue, the better.
