2012: The Latest Conspiracy Theory

No brains, no headaches

          Earlier this week, Sarah Palin, everyone's favorite folksy, air-headed ex-governor told talk show host Barbara Walters that she thought she had a decent chance of beating Barack Obama in the election of 2012, essentially announcing her candidacy.  While liberals like myself have been liable to discount members of the Right fringe such as Sarah Palin and her protégés, I think the time for complacency is past--this, I believe was proved by the recent Midterm Elections, in which Democrats and more centrist Republicans alike took a decent whopping from that pesky Tea Party, foe of moderates everywhere and the darling of a pissed-off electorate.
          The sad thing is, if Obama (read: his congress) does not manage to make substantial economic gains within the next two years, voters everywhere will continue to hate him, and there will be a very good chance that America will be "rewarded" with not only its first female president, but its first reality television star as well.  This possible picture of American life is a pretty accurate representation of the pervasiveness of "celebrity politics" in our society.  A recent edition of Newsweek featured a lengthy article listing the "most powerful people in America."  It was telling that the top five on the list were all media personalities and that four of those five were staunch Rightist Conservatives. Barack Obama, meanwhile, landed in twentieth place.  While this list (and Newsweek in general, for that matter) is certainly not the be-all-end-all of journalism, it is a relatively accurate barometer for the faith that We the People put in the so-called "experts"--the media personalities--who may in fact have no expertise on a given issue.
          Despite this gap in actual credibility, the partisan rants that come out of the mouths of the likes of Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and yes, Keith Olbermann are exactly what the public wants to here.  Given the current state of public opinion, I would hardly be surprised if Beck were to announce his candidacy within the next six months or so, as he has emerged as a seeming beacon to fringe Conservatives, so much so that he has made his extremist form of Conservativism mainstream.
          However, public opinion is fickle.  Maybe, just maybe, two years down the road, the aims of Tea-Party-esque candidates will have lost their luster.  Until then, I'm more liable to believe there's a grain of truth in that completely-out-of-context legend of the End Of The World, as "predicted" by the Mayan Calendar (and lapped up by conspiracy theorists).  At the risk of sounding absolutely silly (and I say this with more humor than seriousness), I must say that anything is possible with that woman's hand on the proverbial Button.