The Useful Idiot: A Field Guide

I used the phrase "useful idiot" in an earlier post today; it's one I've always liked. Since I'm in a political mood - thanks to tax day - I thought I'd write a little post about some of the most useful and idiotic people I can find. They are easy to spot, and it's far more fun to hunt them then it is to go out, say, birding. And you can do it from the comfort of your very own living room. Why not give it a try?!

Here's my first find; the one I like best in this piece is Jeffrey Hollender, the owner of Seventh Generation, an "eco-products" company. Hollender has this particular gem, that I think makes him the star of the article:

"I do feel that I should pay more taxes — absolutely," Hollender says. "While I don't like how the government spends the money I give them, I do feel that I pay too little."

Soooo. Not only does Mr. Hollender want to give more of his money away, he wants to give it to an organization with which he disagrees. Would he give his money to a lobbying group that supported the growth of responsible nuclear energy? No? Why not? Just because he's on the board of Greenpeace, an organization that thinks nuclear power is "evil"? But he says he's willing to give even more of his money to the government, even though he doesn't like how they spend it.

How do people like this make sense of things? How on earth do you come a point in life where you lack logic to such a degree that you can walk around spouting such nonsense? I have no idea. The only thing I do know: I need to find a new laundry detergent, since the stuff swishing around in my washer right this minute is making Mr. Hollender even more money - that he will eventually share with the government, of course.