Sometimes I think that P.T. Barnum vastly underestimated the bithrate of suckers.

Yesterday, I was channel surfing while waiting for NFL action to start, riding my Silver Surfboard upon wave after wave of "reality TV" shows which by their very nomenclature have altered the definition of "reality" as I once thought I knew it, until I happened upon an infomercial that was too compelling to surf away from.
A man of obvious Eastern European heritage, weraing the mustacheless (and in this case, fake) beard and typical straw hat worn by Amish gentlemen in the summertime, stood outside a metal pole building (in winter) explaining to the off-camera interviewer the philosophy of his "Amish craftsmen." They were, he said, dedicated to providing heat to people who needed it, by hand crafting Miracle Amish heaters.
Cut to inside shot of the "Amish" heater factory, where 6 or 7 men and women in traditional Amish garb, used hand tools in ways they were never intended to be used, supposedly in the process of fashioning what the reasonably discerning eye can see are particleboard and molded plastic fake fireplaces. (Just try using a handplane to smooth particleboard sometime, especially particleboard with a vinyl lamination.) Men and women in this fantasy factory worked side by side doing the same types of tasks (apparently the Amish are in the forefront of gender equality) and one poor sinner among them had the job of plugging the finished unit
into an electrical recepticle when completed, presumably right before they load it onto the horse drawn wagon to deliver it to your door, free of charge, because that, we are told, is how the Amish roll.
To me, it was much more entertaining than Bridezillas, Bridalplasty, Dancing with the Brides, Big Fat Brides Who *&$%* The Best Man, and all the others.

Then, this morning while reading what passes for a newspaper these days, I flipped to the last page of the section to see the familiar full page print version of the same ad. Laid out to resemble an actual news article, it announced that a 48 hour window was in effect for the good citizens of New Jersey to receive THEIR Amish heaters, before they would have to pay Two hundred and forty nine dollars (and that's how it was printed, so as to have no real numbers jump out at you from the ad.)
So, let's think about this. First, the ad is geared toward folks who can't tell an ad from actual news article. They beleive that you can get stuff for free by being one of the first 9,000 to call; that "Amish" craftsman make cheap, electric appliances out of plastic in their barns; that those hand made "masterpieces" are adorned with Victorian style trim and rosettes, the symbols of the machine age that signaled the end of hand crafted house trim, I guess to symbolize the collective Amish regret on not having gotten on THAT boat when the time was ripe.

Educated people, or even those with a modicum of common sense are continuously baffled at phenomena like the Tea Party, and Beck, and Palin, etc. They can't understand how working people can vote for a party that represents the enterprises that are destroying the middle class, and along with it, any chance of upward mobility.
Well, I think I've figured it out.
They don't want the government to get in the way of their receiving the Free Miracle Amish Heater.