Sooooo Angry

This is a picture of Lee J. Cobb in a scene from one of my favorite movies, "12 Angry Men." The movie is about a jury deliberating in the trial of a troubled Puerto Rican teen charged with the murder of his father. Given that, 11 of the jurors are prepared to send the kid up he river quickly so they could get out of the unpleasantness of the hot and sticky confines of their New York jury room. But one juror played by Henry Fonda puts the brakes on and begins raising doubts because something important is on the line - a person's life.


Since the movie has been out for 54 years, I don't feel guilty giving away that the Lee J. Cobb character is the last juror to be persuaded that much of the key testimony is BS. In the movie, Cobb is happiest when he thinks the kid is about to be fried. He is so angry that he is riled at Fonda's critical and analytical approach. what we find out about Cobb is that his wisdom is a (dys)function of his personal misery. His ill-informed choices have simply made his life more miserable. He is the definition of tragedy. 


I see the face of juror Cobb when I see recent polls of how the Angry American Public would like every member of Congress replaced, including for the first time, their own reps. It is tragic wisdom considering this was the Congress an Angry American Public elected less than a year ago. Miffed at high unemployment and slow growth Americans voted Republicans into the majority in the House of Representatives. Voters identified with Republicans because the GOP was angry too, but not at economic conditions. Republicans were just bitter that they were the legislative minority. In running, they promised voters a slew of actions that had nothing to do with improving economic conditions. They also promised to grind the political process to a halt by being recalcitrant in negotiating with the president. When it came to Republican plans regarding the jobs crisis, the Republican leader in the House John Boehner kept promising they would come about "later." 


Thanks to people that voted their emotions rather than issues, less than a year later we now have a country that is even more angry for getting exactly what they voted for. Who do they blame? Not themselves. They blame the Congress who delivered what they promised. That is tragic wisdom. 


The reward in "12 Angry Men" was that the jurors slowly opened up to reason in a way that 300 million Angry Americans don't have the patience for in this mortal coil. The idea that all 535 members of Congress need to be punished for this economic and political clusterfuck we are in is ham-fisted, extreme behavior more indicative of primitive bumbling than human reasoning. I've said it before and I'll say it again, people get the government they deserve. 


Cable chatter has yet to predict a Democratic victory in Congress in 2012. As soon as one news person suggests that scenario, that notion will carry like wildfire. Pretty soon all the news natterers will be repeating it suggesting to the Angry Americans voting Democratic is the way to assuage their anger. It will become a self-fullfilling prophecy. If Democrats do fully retake Congress, I will of course be happy. Another part of me will still be a bit rueful that it wasn't thought or reason that got us there. It will have been the same tragic wisdom waiting to create another impasse when things get rough again. GO, AMERICANS! No, really...