Jacob Weisberg‘s latest piece in Slate (the provocatively titled Down With The People), published this past Saturday, has been in heavy rotation these past few days.

And rightfully so. The subhed:

Blame the childish, ignorant American public—not politicians—for our political and economic crisis.

At first blush, it’s tough to disagree. And Weisberg offers some pretty compelling (anecdotal) proof of his theory—namely, that many Americans seem to be ruled by their emotional brains when it comes to passing judgment on federal policy. How else to describe the ongoing erosion of the wide-ranging support for 2008′s supremely popular stimulus checks?¹.

Not to mention the absurd shift from demanding increased regulation of the financial industry in 2008 and growing leery of it by 2010.

Weisberg offers up the case of Senator Scott Brown, perhaps the most chronologically accessible avatar of this country, materializing before out eyes, that “simultaneously² demands and rejects action on unemployment, deficits, health care, climate change, and a whole host of other major problems.”

Weisberg wisely resists speaking in absolutes and offers no remedy. I’m not so sure there is one, short of either (a) leashing public figures with something more potent than implied dignity³ or (b) making hundreds of millions of people smarter.⁴

Nevertheless, I believe that what Weisberg has offered is a false dichotomy. Far more nefarious than an exploitable, restless, vindictive and contradictory electorate are the people who have managed to yoke it. People like Brown, Sarah Palin and Roger Ailes, who continue to ride the upswell of deranged populism.⁵

A more immediate example: an editorial in today’s New York Times describes how Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell told Politico, with disturbing candor, that he wants to “block financing for civilian trials of terrorism suspects⁶ so Republicans can brag about it this fall.”

So it’s difficult for me to place the bulk of the blame on Dumb America for allowing itself to be steered, because that allegory requires the existence of coachmen, flailing away with rhetorical whips.

I think that Weisberg fails to give them the attention they deserve. Certainly, a large number of Americans want—paraphrased from Weisberg—for government to address modern issues while simultaneously shrinking, spending less and reducing their taxes.

But you can’t buy a fantasy if nobody’s selling it.⁷ Can you?

1. I suppose it’s tough to stay behind tax-subsidized free money once they’re two years behind you and only getting further away [↑]
2. And perhaps unintentionally [↑]
3. Probably unconstitutional. [↑]
4. Impractical. [↑]
5. Watch Palin’s speech at the First National Tea Party Convention. [↑]
6. Read: Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed [↑]
7. Ex: Mickey Mouse was not born through intuitive, popular consensus. He was offered to us. [↑]