The ignorance of any population of a country I can kind of understand, sure. Ignorance is a bit like air, it's all around you. I was reminded of our nation's ignorance by an article in The New York Times today:
Obama's Puzzle: Economy Rarely Better, Approval Rarely Worse
A bit from the article:
WASHINGTON — President Obama will pronounce on the state of the union for the fifth time on Tuesday, and never during his time in office has the state of the economy been better — yet rarely has he gotten such low marks from the public for his handling of it.
Not only have economic indicators shown progress toward pre-recession health, but many forecasters are predicting what one called “a breakout year” for growth. A new study from a Federal Reserve economist even put a more benign spin on a negative trend, the shrinking labor force, by attributing the decline not to discouraged unemployed workers who have quit looking for jobs, but to the first baby-boomer retirements.Demand for labor is up and the unemployment rate is below 7 percent for the first time since November 2008. Consumers, buoyed by rising home prices and stock values, are spending more; so are businesses. Exports are growing as Europe regains health. The fiscal drag from state and federal spending cuts has abated. And contrary to Republicans’ claims, many forecasters do not see the health care law as “a job-killer.”Not only does this president get little or no credit for the good and growing economy, the vitriol and ugliness that one can hear, read and see in this country towards this man is not just negative but at least a few people have publicly called for him to be not just impeached but killed. One said, on Facebook, he should be lynched.It reminds me of the saying that minorities have to work twice as hard yet they get half the credit of a white man. There's no better example of this than to examine the presidencies of President Obama and his predecessor, for one very easy, pertinent and extremely recent proof of that. It became an all-too-true meme:
