One of the unspoken issues that engaged my curiosity strongly about the '04 election was the underlying rationales for the meager amount of resistance John Kerry put up to the steady stream of vilification poured on him by the Right - allowing his name, deeds, and reputation to be besmirched by paid media assassins while appearing to be blissfully above the fray, until it was too late to make a substantiative impact on the outcome of the race.
And we all know the rest of the story.
Such feckless behavior seems inappropriate, somehow...After all, one might think that with what he knew about the business dealings of the Bush family and many others, that a few well-chosen public words would have sufficed to send mainstream reporters far afield in search of verifiable scandals and intrigues...But his tongue was held, and the Big Fiction was maintained so that America could go on getting a good night's sleep.
So, now 3 years late, the alarm bell has rung, and the slumber has become fitful...Undeniable facts of economy, commerce, law, and other consequences of ideology have now asserted themselves in the public's knowledge, and a vague sense of unease has penetrated the consciousnesses of all but the most insensate zealots, to where a sudden fluctuation in public opinion (that all the candidates assert has nothing to do with their 'firmly held' convictions and policy decisions) is sufficient to stampede the herd madly in a common direction.
Underlying this purported meme of change is a note of desperation...That the 'average' American, having realized just how negative the global perception of the U.S.A. brand has become wants to alter course now, to regain a lost stature and the reflected allure of a noble cause.
For the United States has become in the eyes of the 21st century world what the Soviet bear was perceived to be as it bestrode the twentieth...A source of fear and resentment among captive client states, trading partners, and ideological adversaries alike.
No one but Putin and his wretched apparatchiks shed a reptilian tear when that empire collapsed under its own weight, only to become ascendant again under the careful nurturing of Bush and Cheney.
And now Americans have an empire of their own, one which will not relinquish power graciously just because of inconvenient polling...Who might mourn its passing, and why?
If one has an hour to spare, they may find this video of interest...An interview between Harold Channer and Lucy Komisar, recorded in the spring of last year, and upon viewing it one may come to the conclusion that what is known publically of the last 30 years of American politics has been 'rendered inoperative'...That, due to corruption, cronyism, nihilistic ideology, 'profit uber alles', and 57 other kinds of malfeasance, there are no more 'good guys' or 'mornings in America', and never will be again as long as citizens remain passive consumers of the corporate banquet.
A further irony...The likely outcome of this electoral epoch, irrespective of who 'wins', is that those who have been demonstrably the most lawless will seek to use the convolutions of that same law to stifle and evade a just prosecution.
The pardon of Irving Libby illustrated that quite succinctly, and he will not be the last clown in the parade of feigned forgiveness...Thus, the American people will be the hapless ones tasked to put hand to broom when the chore of cleaning up the elephant excrement comes due...Whether they want to or not.
h/t Down With Tyranny
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