the american people always agree with me

perhaps the most popular rhetorical ploy in politics today is 'the american people want x,' 'the american people think y,' etc. remarkably we the people always agree with whomever's yapping that crap. really obama is particularly incessant with this: he walks this rutted path many times a day. it really is a relief to be told continuously what i really want and believe, though of course what i want or believe changes moment by moment depending on who's holding forth. i really had no idea that i wanted the highest tax rate to go from 34 to 39%, for example. really i didn't think that much about it until they told me i had an opinion. it beats being psychologically or epistemically directed by someone i actually know, or by myself. now 'the american people' is, obviously, not the sort of thing that can want or believe anything, which is why it's both necessary and impossible to appoint someone to tell us what we think. anyway, i appreciate the way all politicians know me so much better than i know myself. in all senses, they've made up our mind.