Sometimes, when feeling despair at the fact that such a large percentage of my countrymen are seemingly incapable of making reasonable judgments based on available evidence, and subject to delusion, I try to comfort myself with the idea that they are not truly saps, but rather are so entertained by the spectacle our politics have become that they simply don't want the show to stop. What is taking place now would make a good dark comedy, after all. Perhaps not even a subtle one, subtlety being something lacking in American politics and perhaps even culture, but more of a Marx Brothers' movie along the lines of a farce like Duck Soup or A Night at the Circus, though Groucho was far more clever and intelligent than the main character of this ongoing farce can ever be. Can it be that they are so amused by the freak show that they fear it may end, and so clamour for more and more despite the consequences for our nation?
This is wishful thinking, unfortunately. It's odd enough that anyone would find this thought a satisfying alternative to what's actually taking place (better a perverse but knowing cynicism than what Mencken would probably have called "boobery"), but no. We may not be sophisticated enough to be decadent. Only ignorance and gullibility can explain what's now the case. Gullibility in particular, I think. Which brings us to the notion of razzle-dazzle.
This is a word which it seems has its origin in late 19th century American slang. So, at least, is thought by the editors of the Online Etymology Dictionary which describes it as "a word, app. of U.
S. coinage, used to express the ideas of bewilderment or confusion, rapid stir and bustle, riotous jollity or intoxication, etc. Also, deception, fraud; extravagant publicity." The rallies we see seem to be a sort of tent show of the kind that evangelical preachers and faith healers used to put on (or do they still?), inspiring the believers to unthinking credulity. Or, maybe, a magician's act of a sort, in which the misdirection is obvious enough but nonetheless persuasive. The snake oil salesman has a place in our history. Perhaps its become an honored one. Is there a nostalgia for the days of the bumpkin being taken advantage of by the city slicker, which also is a part of our history.
How do we explain the appeal of something or someone so obviously a con? There must be an explanation. Razzle-Dazzle seems as good as any. If it's a Peculiarly American word it may also be a peculiarly American tendency, to be dazzled and confused by showy deception. Do we long, spiritually, for the arrival of the circus or the Wells-Fargo wagon, to bring color to our drab lives?
I find it hard to think of any historical precedent for this situation. Hitler wreathed himself in Romantic, mystical appeals to a German Volk, a Master Race, and was aided in such claims by philosophical and intellectual loonies like Heidegger, but there is no philosophical appeal being made in this case. Resentment is being fostered, but no yet to the extent it was in Germany after WWI. Intolerance and the desire for sameness has always been characteristic of Western civilization, but the blithe disregard of honor and virtue we seethe with as a nation is extraordinary.
We can look to the example of Rome in this and other cases, and there may even be some justification in doing so. Spectacles were wildly popular with the people. Celebrations of triumphs, the games of the arena, the races of the hippodrome, attracted the attention of the populace and even the most depraved of the Emperors, such as Caligula and Nero, had the admiration of many merely because they kept the people entertained. Perhaps our future leaders will be entertainers. They will take residence in Washington as they now do in Las Vegas.
Maybe this is the new form of American Exceptionalism. We can hardly be seen as exemplary anymore, but we're certainly distinctive and unique. Mencken called us Boobs, and his assessment was thoughtful. We're seeking, and may yet attain, a government for the boobs, by the boobs and of the boobs.
