Maybe it isn't nuance

Maybe it is just because people are really stupid.

My last post was all about the inability of people and leaders to see the shades of gray in any situation. But rather, it may be that people and leaders are simply ignorant.

Ignorant of history. 

Let's start with a little test -- Fill in the blanks:

[The] solution to the current problem is “more prisons and migrant detention camps,” and that BLANK must “prepare more military bases where we can jail all of them without exception.” (Italics mine)

Any guesses? Oh, yeah it is Israel. Interior Minister Eli Yishai said this in an interview where he claimed that Israeli woman are "often" raped by African migrant workers but don't report it because they are worried about the stigma of getting AIDS.

Yup. Israel.

My initial reaction: ARE YOU KIDDING ME?  Did you miss the reason why Israel was supported by the UN? Did you not get the memo?  Remember that time when Jews had the same issues in Europe?  It is bad and equally historically ignorant when anti-Semites make the Nazi=Zionism connection but when you make it this easy, it is hard for anyone outside of the extreme to support Israel.

Ignorant of human nature, maybe.

Mayor Micheal Bloomberg is banning soda larger than 16oz. This is just part of his long history of policing what people eat in New York City.  This kind of overreach makes liberals who care about social issues cringe.  At least it isn't a poor tax or something equally regressive, but come on Mike.

People are now going to buy two bottles or get refills or do anything to get more soda. However, taking away options that do fuel obesity might work...but it most likely will not.  Freedom of choice of legal substances, regardless of how bad they are for you, is important. Taking freedom of choice away only pisses people off and honestly, no matter how don't-tread-on-me crazy it sounds, is un-American.

Saturated fats in mass causes higher cholesterol -- ban on hamburgers?  Long-term sun exposure causes melanoma -- ban on sitting outside in the summer?  Come on now. Teach moderation, not bans.  Also, Mikey, lead by example and lay off the salt.

 

Ignorant of who you are messing with

Jon Stewart was accused of being a socialist by the always fair and balanced Roger Ailes.  According to the head of Fox News, Stewart admitted to him at a party years ago that Stewart was a socialist.  

 

Yes, always good to pick on a guy who makes his living pointing out how cable news is dominated by extremists and exaggeration.  That always ends well; see part 1 and part 2 of it ending well.

Yeah, maybe nuance is dead.  But people are for sure idiots.