Captain Obvious: Attention Paid to Crazies in Politics is Necessary AND Detrimental

Captain Obvious is a feature at Greenlee Gazette, where I get up on my soapbox and opine on issues that should be obvious but for some reason aren't. I'll make an attempt to be brief and pithy, but I have a tendency to get windy, so please bear with me while I hammer out the format.

There is a sense from many that the attention paid to tea baggers, FOX "News", Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh and the rest of the craziness in politics is bad.  These politicians and commentators occupy the fringe, and shining a spotlight on them is actually detrimental; amplifying their message far beyond what they'd be able to do on their own.  True that.

But it is also important that the crazy things all of the above are up to need to be debunked.  The messages that so many eat up, need to be shouted down.  Sure, we might not change the minds of the faithful, but there is a large mass of people out there who aren't paying attention like we are.  If they only hear the far-right wingnuts' side of things, they might start to believe it.  As Rachel Maddow often says, when people are saying and doing things that are hypocritical, ignorant, or dishonest, they need to be reported as such.  So that's why I do it.

Also, the crazy train is irresistible to a blogger like me.  If I didn't point and laugh, I'd just get angry.