I saw this quotation the other day….

Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.
~Voltaire

And feel like this summarizes my fears about the political candidates this year.

I mean seriously…..

The thousands of cheering Muslim video that exists per Trump and Ben Carson after the Muslims learned of the 9/11 attacks?

Ben Carson’s belief that the shooter at the Planned Parenthood clinic was transgender?

Oh fuck, while we are on the Planned Parenthood thing – a lot of stupid shit has been said about that one.  My favorite is that it is a left-wing attack meant to rile up leftist media support against the Republicans. Like the Republicans don’t have their own long history of going after women’s health without adding in a man shooting people at a clinic.

I think what scares me are how many people I see spewing this non-sense like it’s truth.

I think this is why it scares me – listen to this here.  Or read the transcript here.  The story is called One Tin Soldier Rides Away.  It’s about how easily a leader can manipulate.  Reminds me of what is happening.

I guess I also have SB to blame for getting this on my mind more.

After learning this weekend that I had not seen or read Dune, he pulled out his copy of Dune so we could watch it.  The movie fascinated me as did the overall story. I am glad SB has watched it a lot because I kept asking questions about the backstory of this and that.  But the thing that struck me most was some of the parallels to today.  Oil being our drug.  Conflict going down in the desert.  The undertones of how religious beliefs play into the politics between groups.  The misinformation of what is really happening.  Maybe that’s why it fascinated me so much – how a sci-fi story form 1965 can closely reflect the current condition.  Maybe that is also why the story above resonates with me as it happened 40+ years ago yet it still is relevant.  It still shows how easily people can be (mis)led with (mis)information.

And it’s why reading headlines with information about thousands of Muslims cheering as the towers fell or that the shooter was transsexual just scares the fuck out of me.  This misinformation feeds into the fears that lead people – even smart people – to do stupid things that have even worse consequences.

I’m not scared of guns or knives or terrorists –

I’m scared more about the ideas being passed around, the dangerous ideas that will do this country – do people in general more lasting harm as otherwise good people are led down paths that condone or sanction doing horrible things.

</end rant>