EXISTENTIAL ANGST vs. COGNITIVE DISSONANCE
The titled conditions plague people with spare cash who agonized over selecting a suitable cause. Take, for instance, the current presidential political race for the White House. The backdrop to this situation found the Republican Senator, Mitch McConnell, declaring right off the bat that the number one priority of his party was to bring Obama down. Next, Mitch contacted a hit man, Karl Rove, to take Obama out. If you were on somebody’s hit list, what would you have done? Quixotically, the president chose to interpret Mitch’s dictum as empty verbiage and proceeded to extend his hand to the opposition as a heartfelt gesture to achieve a friendly working relationship. What our trusting leader failed to detect was that Mitch was dead serious. Conservatives don’t suffer from existential angst or cognitive dissonance. They know their base and are not tied up in goodie two shoes conduct. Democrats do suffer from these conditions, which put them at a disadvantage in dealing with ideologues. This stark difference between the two political parties also impacts adversely on the matter of financing the campaign. Rove sends out the call to supporters who pony up with mucho mullah, knowing the man will carry out his mission. Liberal donors hear the call, but vacillate between saving the Mongolian Yurt and contributing to Obama’s cause. The consequence? Democrats wind up on the short end of the financial stick. Of course, there are those who term polls and fund raising as things to scoff at. Self-destruct illusions have proven disastrous to the beholders, time and again. But who ever learns from history? Concern over causes that enable the afflicted to survive may be noble, but accomplishing the aim through a public vehicle as through a private effort deserves consideration.