One could be excused for thinking it absurd for the Biden administration to shepherd through Congress a three-quarters of a trillion-dollar piece of legislation at a time when the national debt is 130 percent of GDP and the nation is experiencing an intense bout of inflation fueled in part, if not primarily, by too much government spending.
And to then add insult to injury by calling it, of all things, the "Inflation Reduction Act."
Implicit in such economic foolishness and political chutzpah is the assumption that Americans are dumb and thus easily hoodwinked.
In a democracy, the level of political discourse is set by elected officials based on their perceptions of the intelligence of the electorate; if elected officials think enough people can be fooled, then they will try to fool them (whatever Abe Lincoln said aside).
A dumb public inevitably produces what we now have, a dumb political discourse.
The decline of our political discourse is thus more effect than cause; a consequence of politicians realizing voters have a diminishing capacity to understand public policy and basic economics and adjusting their messaging accordingly.
Indeed, the most depressing part of contemporary American politics is that so many of our elected officials say incredibly stupid things with a straight face, apparently believing they won't be caught out, things which, for the most part, their predecessors in previous eras, seeking to influence more sophisticated electorates and presumably valuing to some extent their credibility, would never have dreamed of trying.
When our leaders so often make absurd claims or blatantly lie in such a fashion, and do so in ways that are so easily found out, they are signaling in the clearest possible way their contempt for those they supposedly serve. They are taking the measure of our intelligence and don't mind insulting what little they find.
We end up with descriptions of a modest voter reform bill in Georgia (that actually appears to have boosted turnout) as "Jim Crow on steroids;" assertions that our disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan was in reality an "extraordinary success;" boasts about reducing the federal deficit from the same suspects who tried to pass a nearly $5 trillion proposal ("Build Back Better") that would have massively added to it; claims that the "U.S. economy is stronger than ever" when we've had two consecutive quarters of economic contraction (which also isn't somehow a recession, despite the traditional definition of the thing); assurances that our southern border is secure when anyone with eyes can see that it isn't; and straight-faced claims we have "zero" inflation when the inflation rate was officially 9.1 percent in June and 8.5 percent in July.
Politicians who peddle such absurdities are being told by their advisers the public will swallow it because the public doesn't know anything about Georgia's new voting law (or Jim Crow, for that matter), or where Afghanistan is on a map, what the national debt is and how big ours happens to be, or even what causes inflation (although they know it hurts at the gas pump and grocery checkout).
The problem underlying it all isn't necessarily the ethical failings of the politicians in question (that can be assumed to some extent in all times and places), but the gullibility and ignorance of those they are seeking to deceive; a bet of sorts is being made and the chips have been firmly placed on the "too dumb to know that this is dumb" marker.
The nature of politics in a democracy is always a reflection of the qualities of the people, and a gullible, ignorant population issues an invitation to be lied to and deceived.
If we were wondering what our politics might look like as we became a dumber people, due to educational failure and other factors, we now know.
Our increased political polarization only adds to the problem by providing a built-in constituency for the consumption of the absurd: Whatever Donald Trump says must be true for his supporters (even if it clearly isn't) and must be false for those who oppose him (even when, occasionally, it isn't).
When Joe Biden makes ridiculous claims or tells outright whoppers (as he can be counted on to do whenever he is let off the leash), it must be dismissed or even ignored by the Democrat-leaning establishment media lest it "give ammunition" and talking points to the Trump side.
Each has a vested interest in convincing us their particular naked emperor is actually fully clothed, as truth becomes fungible and defined purely in terms of ideological and partisan utility.
Those who have no desire to be lumped in either simple-minded camp are left homeless, with their faith in our institutions (including our media) gradually eroding.
Extreme polarization makes us both dumb and dishonest, and thus encourages politicians to say dumb and dishonest things. To paraphrase Charles Murray, when you subsidize something you get more of it (in this case not illegitimacy, but a degraded political culture).
We live in an era where it is easier than ever to fact-check the claims made by public officials, but also one in which deliberately misleading claims and outright lies have become as common as to be considered unworthy of comment.
Freelance columnist Bradley R. Gitz, who lives and teaches in Batesville, Arkansas, received his doctorate in political science from the University of Illinois.