05-29-2026, 02:08 PM
#31: Profiles in Ignorance: How America’s Politicians Got Dumb and Dumber by Andy Borowitz. Although certainly amusing, this book was also terribly depressing. Although I’ve lived through most the misery he covers in this book, I’d mercifully forgotten some, and hadn’t run into others, so it just made the manure pile just a little bit deeper than I’d realized. But perhaps the hardest part of getting through this book was the conclusion; that what I’ve been doing about the horrible state of this country isn’t enough. It’s not enough to be an educated voter, to donate to worthy candidates, to stay informed and to scream about what’s wrong… especially when what’s wrong is us. Not “us” the people reading this post, necessarily, but “us” the political spectators. We root for the right team, but we’re not actively *doing* anything other than voting, and that’s no longer enough. We have to actively participate in getting the people doing even less than us to vote, to organize, to register people to vote, to attend town halls, and find opportunities to change the minds of people not helping the educated candidates to defeat the morons. I’ve been through a “being involved” phase of life and it was tiring. I don’t know if I’ve got any gas in the tank for this stuff any more. But I certainly understand the point he’s making.
Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.