blog
Posting post-haste
Sometime in early 2006, we the groggy and addled American public awakened to find ourselves occupied by the potentates of an alien and monolithic faith. During our twenty-plus years of semi-consciousness we had allowed the Mullahs of Mega-Capitalism, the Neo-cons, to seize the Empire. Having been threatened and bamboozled and bribed into collaboration, we now want to pretend that it never happened. We imagine that hardened
Fascists are merely cheap swindlers who when confronted with their crimes will fold up shop and move on. That faced with moral indignation, they will renounce their Faith. That backed into a corner, these vicious thugs will simply roll over like puppies. That having staked the entire Empire on an Oil War, they will somehow leave without the oil!
Because last fall Karl Rove miscalculated by a couple of percentage points in a couple of states, we now think that if we play-act at being grown-ups for a few months we can have our country back.
We imagine that a government able to round up any klatch of obscure knuckle-heads with a half-baked plot isn’t a police state. That having allowed every facet of our inner and outer lives to be digitized and monitored, we are free. That our “popular culture”, which emulates sociopathic prisoners, is the envy of the world rather than the reflection of people who are themselves prisoners.
And then there are the fundamentalist Muslim jihadists. We are like the Nick Nolte character in “Cape Fear”. Enraged by injustices real and imagined we haven’t bothered to notice, they are indeed coming for us. Having hired others to knee-cap them so as to keep our own hands clean, still they come, while we “re-deploy” behind a dumpster and pray that they’ll just go away.
“Counselor? OH COUNSELOR?”
What is the answer? I suppose the more “activist” amongst us could brow-beat the local congressman for “not having a spine”. After all, this is America and everything always works itself out in the end. Doesn’t it?
Fascists are merely cheap swindlers who when confronted with their crimes will fold up shop and move on. That faced with moral indignation, they will renounce their Faith. That backed into a corner, these vicious thugs will simply roll over like puppies. That having staked the entire Empire on an Oil War, they will somehow leave without the oil!
Because last fall Karl Rove miscalculated by a couple of percentage points in a couple of states, we now think that if we play-act at being grown-ups for a few months we can have our country back.
We imagine that a government able to round up any klatch of obscure knuckle-heads with a half-baked plot isn’t a police state. That having allowed every facet of our inner and outer lives to be digitized and monitored, we are free. That our “popular culture”, which emulates sociopathic prisoners, is the envy of the world rather than the reflection of people who are themselves prisoners.
And then there are the fundamentalist Muslim jihadists. We are like the Nick Nolte character in “Cape Fear”. Enraged by injustices real and imagined we haven’t bothered to notice, they are indeed coming for us. Having hired others to knee-cap them so as to keep our own hands clean, still they come, while we “re-deploy” behind a dumpster and pray that they’ll just go away.
“Counselor? OH COUNSELOR?”
What is the answer? I suppose the more “activist” amongst us could brow-beat the local congressman for “not having a spine”. After all, this is America and everything always works itself out in the end. Doesn’t it?
Comments
Ever listen to Mike Malloy? Before The Iraq war, he talked on-air about the helplessness he felt about the whole situation. I found it so poignant that I saved it up on my server:
http://www.markmarshall.com/moralcrisis.mp3
Sigh.
Nice post - thanks for it.