The Cognitive Dissonance of American Political Thought

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All of us have our little moments of cognitive dissonance, which is the ability to hold two contradictory ideas at the same time. The thing is, a rational person will usually recognize that "these things don't go together," and then sort out the dilemma. An example might be holding the belief that gay people have all the same rights as any other American, but that they shouldn't have the right to get married. A rational person would realize that those two thoughts are in conflict, and then come down on one side or the other.

But increasingly, our political discourse is jam packed with this duality. To wit: The government would screw up a public option in health care, and the result would be terrible. But given the option, everyone would take it, and all the insurance companies would go out of business! Well, which is it, terrible or great? And that's just one example.

Part of reason that this paradoxical thinking is so prevalent might have something to do with the ascendancy of talking heads like Glenn Beck who do more than their part to foster it. The article excerpted below does a better job of explaining what I mean, so here you go. . .

[Excerpt]

The Antilogical Reasoning Of Glenn Beck

Glenn Beck has already solidified his position as the Evangelist of the Coming Obama-Pocalypse. Now he is pioneering a revolutionary new model for polemics that introduces a level of absurdity heretofore unimagined in the world of rational thought. It is a breakthrough that rattles the foundations of conventional discourse. In recognition of this achievement, Beck will forever be remembered as the Stephen Hawking of what I shall dub “Antilogical Reasoning” - or reasoning that contradicts its own premise. Perhaps the best example of antilogics is Beck’s recent comments as to whether President Obama is a racist. . .

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