America is now experiencing a renaissance of shoddy goods‐this time in the marketplace of ideas. Virtually all the 26 candidates vying for the Democratic Party nomination for president are espousing positions no more credible than the snake-oil salesmen of old.
To get a clear sense of the absurdity of some of the claims, several examples are worth highlighting.
Abbreviated
Snake Oil #1: The ’Green New Deal’
Snake Oil #2: ’Medicare for All’
Snake Oil #3: Income Redistribution
Snake Oil #4: Raising the Minimum Wage
Snake Oil #5: The ’Wage Gap’ Fallacy
Snake Oil #6: Reparations
Snake Oil #7: Open-Borders and Amnesty
Finally, there is the subject of illegal immigration. Many of the 26 hopefuls often say that opposing it is "not who we are." Wrong. It is completely legitimate‐actually, responsible and civic-minded‐to demand that immigration be legal. We should be discussing how much legal immigration is good for America, and what preferences and restrictions should be attached. The presentation of widely differing opinions expressed with passion, but civility, is exactly "who we are."
Conversely, defending illegal immigration is irresponsible. Just as it would not make sense to say that the poor should be excused from other laws and requirements, such as having a driver’s license and car insurance, it is not justifiable to overlook the fact that by definition illegal immigrants have broken U.S. law.
Consider this logic from the presidential aspirants: If your parents break the law to get you into college, you should be expelled from school, and they should be indicted, charged, and convicted of a felony and perhaps serve some time in jail. But if your parents break the law to get you into this country, you should be given free education, health care on the taxpayers’ dime, and then you should be given amnesty to stay. How on earth does that logic hold up?
BUYER BEWARE
Each candidate, in the quest for attention, has attempted to put on the biggest show, not unlike the barkers in towns along the old Oregon Trail. "My elixir is better than your potion!" or "Take my elixir along with his potion for even better results!" With the advent of social media and the left-leaning mainstream media, repetition seems to (almost) make any absurdity more credible.
Recall the old inside-the-Beltway adage that something said three times becomes a fact. Well, with social media, the hunger for confirmation bias can get 300,000 iterations of "fake facts" in no time. There is no longer any penalty for deception and hyper-exaggeration.
It may be traditional that in the scrum of politics, candidates make overly optimistic promises that the electorate somewhat discounts. Even so, we would wager that never in the history of this country have so many absurd statements been made, and unrealistic policy prescriptions been advanced.
It remains to be seen whether any semblance of rationality will eventually end the worst lunacy. In the meantime, listening to all the political rhetoric has become more and more like a bitter dose of Dr. Brown’s elixir.