How Can They Be So Strong?
8/4/04
Citizen Lane goes off.
If I had had the podium (don’t laugh) at the Democratic Convention, here’s what I would have said.
HOW CAN THEY BE SO STRONG?
How can the likes of Cheney and Rove be so strong? They look very weak to me: liars, swindlers, operators in the shadows...... How does Cheney's 4-alarm heart go on beating? And Bush? This is a strong man? He's barely there. But he's propped up pretty firmly. These guys are only as strong as the American peoples' capacity for self-deception & delusion, which is very very strong. They're strong the way the NRA hysterics who fight for the right to party with assault weapons are strong, they're strong the way election saboteurs like Katherine Harris are strong, they're strong the way Halliburton war profiteers are strong, they're strong the way pro-life terrorists and assassins are strong, they're strong the way TV talking-head thugs are strong, they're strong the way lumbermen colluding with Ann Venneman and Gayle Norton to pillage the national forests are strong, they're strong the way cynical Tom Delay-led Congressmen who pass taxcut after trillion dollar taxcut for the upper 1% are strong, they're strong the way Tom Ridge strongly warns us of another terror threat every time Bush's polls need goosing, they're strong the way Rumsfeld strongly flung the Geneva Convention into the trash can while he gave the go ahead to torturers in Gitmo and Abu Ghraib, they're strong the way the Big Brass is strong when they decide to let wretched lowlife reservist PFC's like Lynndie England take the heat for the Abu Ghraib scandal, they're strong with the strength that comes from pulling America out of nuqular disarmament agreements, international law treaties, Kyoto environmental treaties, they're strong with the strength that comes from devastating our ties to former friends & Nato allies like the French and Germans, they're strong with the strength that comes from never using diplomacy but always relying on violence, they're strong with the strength that comes from penning dissenters in barbed wire "free speech zones," they're strong with strength that comes from asking others to sacrifice while they and their cronies cash in with no-bid contracts, corporate welfare, golden parachutes, and deficit raids on Social Security and Medicare, they're strong with the strength that comes from fixing the rules of the economic game Enron-style and calling it a free market, they're strong with the strength of always seeking to divide, not unify, they're strong with the strength of voters whom they induce to vote against themselves, they're strong with the strength that comes with fanning the flames of fear, they're strong with the strength born of narrow self-interest, they're strong with appeals to family values even as they shred families by destroying the working and middle classes, they're strong with the strength of outsourcing, they're strong with the almost overwhelming strength of hypocrisy, they're strong with the strength of lobbyists, of special interests, of backrooms, of government for sale, they're strong with the strength of men who tell the American people what to think instead of encouraging them to think for themselves, they're strong with the strength of loathing for learning even as they promise to leave no child behind, they're strong with the strength of men who never admit their own mistakes, no matter how devastating and bloody those errors of judgment have proven to be, they're strong with the strength of lies asserted with perfect conviction, they're strong with the strength of fraud, they're strong the way those who never dialogue, who are incapable of dialogue, are strong, they're strong the way rulers who have perfect contempt for the people are strong, they're strong the way a people who have perfect contempt for themselves, and who therefore surrender ultimate responsibility for themselves, are strong, they're strong the way a stubbornly blind faithbased contituency is strong, they're strong the way a nation which has lost its way is strong, they're strong the way a nation of gluttons in a starving world is strong, they're strong the way Chickenhawks who let others bleed for their mistakes are strong, they're strong the way spinmeisters who base policies on polls are strong, they're strong the way media monopolists are strong, they're strong the way Uncle Toms are strong, they're strong with the strength of homophobia, they're strong the way men who see the flag as a brand to be exploited are strong, they're strong because they see patriotism as the last refuge of scoundrels such as themselves, they're strong because they're stamping out Liberty's light, they're strong because they preach Freedom Freedom Freedom and they practice repression repression repression, they're strong because they gut the Bill of Rights, they're strong because they use the Constitution as asswipe, they're strong because they pray the Old South will rise again, this time with wage slaves of all colors, they're strong because they encourage Christian and Jewish fundamentalists to hate Moslem fundamentalists, they're strong because they ride the back of the tiger and spur the tiger on, they're strong because they're oilocrats, they're strong because they destroy wildlife refuges on principle, not simply out of greed, they're strong because they love hate and embody hate while purporting to love, they're strong because they deify greed, they're strong because they institutionalize injustice, they're strong because they foster lies and live by them, they're strong because they operate in shadows & secrecy and hate the light, they're strong because they bully and intimidate and deceive, they're strong because they admit nothing, they're strong because their words & images mean whatever they pay them to mean, they're strong because they're Humpty Dumpties and they're sitting on a wall, they're strong because they subvert the vote, they're strong because they don't do what Jesus would have done, they're strong because they would rather build more nukes than get rid of them, they're strong because they attack the wrong enemies and offend former friends, they're strong because they play into the hands of our enemies, they're strong because they believe power is the highest good and they will hold it by any means necessary.
They're strong because 9/11 is the best thing that ever happened to them, they're strong because they did not hesitate to exploit the fear and goodwill and unity of the nation and the world. They're strong because they're going it alone and letting others do their fighting for them. They're strong because they see respect for the truth as weakness. They're strong because they say one thing and do another and they rarely mean what they say or say what they mean. They're strong because their highest allegiance is to narrow self-interest, not to the nation or the world. They strong because they cannot imagine the future or remember the past and are blind to the present. They're strong because they shamelessly and cynically invoke the name of God and claim God is on their side instead of praying that they are on God's side. They're strong because they shoot first and ask questions later. Actually, they never ask questions unless they are forced to because they believe they already have the answers. They're strong because they believe that power comes out of the barrel of a gun and they cannot imagine power that is not violent. They're strong because they believe they are the chosen ones, the frozen ones. They're strong because their front man never does his homework, but gladly allows them to do his homework for him. They're strong because they have a crushing contempt for the facts. They're strong because they silence whisteblowers and exile dissenters and slander those who would tell truth to power. They're strong because they love bad science. They're strong because they're denying we're warming the globe. They're strong because they somehow imagine they can engineer an apocalypse without going down themselves, or else they've so lost sight of joy or are so eaten up with hate & fear that they're turning the whole world into a carbomb with themselves at the wheel. They're strong because they lead the fight against terrorism yet they are themselves terrifying. They're strong because they promise to save the nation they are destroying. They're strong because they've alienated America from the rest of the world and they've alienated Americans from ourselves. They're strong because they find a government of the people, for the people, by the people to be a laughable, exploitable, slogan. They're strong because they exploit our weakness and indifference and ignorance at every turn. They're strong because they think they are the ultimate players and they're playing us and they're playing the world and they think governing is a great game, not a sacred responsibility. They're strong because they think they will go on forever.
Let's prove them wrong. Before they take us down with them.
Citizen Lane goes off.
If I had had the podium (don’t laugh) at the Democratic Convention, here’s what I would have said.
HOW CAN THEY BE SO STRONG?
How can the likes of Cheney and Rove be so strong? They look very weak to me: liars, swindlers, operators in the shadows...... How does Cheney's 4-alarm heart go on beating? And Bush? This is a strong man? He's barely there. But he's propped up pretty firmly. These guys are only as strong as the American peoples' capacity for self-deception & delusion, which is very very strong. They're strong the way the NRA hysterics who fight for the right to party with assault weapons are strong, they're strong the way election saboteurs like Katherine Harris are strong, they're strong the way Halliburton war profiteers are strong, they're strong the way pro-life terrorists and assassins are strong, they're strong the way TV talking-head thugs are strong, they're strong the way lumbermen colluding with Ann Venneman and Gayle Norton to pillage the national forests are strong, they're strong the way cynical Tom Delay-led Congressmen who pass taxcut after trillion dollar taxcut for the upper 1% are strong, they're strong the way Tom Ridge strongly warns us of another terror threat every time Bush's polls need goosing, they're strong the way Rumsfeld strongly flung the Geneva Convention into the trash can while he gave the go ahead to torturers in Gitmo and Abu Ghraib, they're strong the way the Big Brass is strong when they decide to let wretched lowlife reservist PFC's like Lynndie England take the heat for the Abu Ghraib scandal, they're strong with the strength that comes from pulling America out of nuqular disarmament agreements, international law treaties, Kyoto environmental treaties, they're strong with the strength that comes from devastating our ties to former friends & Nato allies like the French and Germans, they're strong with the strength that comes from never using diplomacy but always relying on violence, they're strong with the strength that comes from penning dissenters in barbed wire "free speech zones," they're strong with strength that comes from asking others to sacrifice while they and their cronies cash in with no-bid contracts, corporate welfare, golden parachutes, and deficit raids on Social Security and Medicare, they're strong with the strength that comes from fixing the rules of the economic game Enron-style and calling it a free market, they're strong with the strength of always seeking to divide, not unify, they're strong with the strength of voters whom they induce to vote against themselves, they're strong with the strength that comes with fanning the flames of fear, they're strong with the strength born of narrow self-interest, they're strong with appeals to family values even as they shred families by destroying the working and middle classes, they're strong with the strength of outsourcing, they're strong with the almost overwhelming strength of hypocrisy, they're strong with the strength of lobbyists, of special interests, of backrooms, of government for sale, they're strong with the strength of men who tell the American people what to think instead of encouraging them to think for themselves, they're strong with the strength of loathing for learning even as they promise to leave no child behind, they're strong with the strength of men who never admit their own mistakes, no matter how devastating and bloody those errors of judgment have proven to be, they're strong with the strength of lies asserted with perfect conviction, they're strong with the strength of fraud, they're strong the way those who never dialogue, who are incapable of dialogue, are strong, they're strong the way rulers who have perfect contempt for the people are strong, they're strong the way a people who have perfect contempt for themselves, and who therefore surrender ultimate responsibility for themselves, are strong, they're strong the way a stubbornly blind faithbased contituency is strong, they're strong the way a nation which has lost its way is strong, they're strong the way a nation of gluttons in a starving world is strong, they're strong the way Chickenhawks who let others bleed for their mistakes are strong, they're strong the way spinmeisters who base policies on polls are strong, they're strong the way media monopolists are strong, they're strong the way Uncle Toms are strong, they're strong with the strength of homophobia, they're strong the way men who see the flag as a brand to be exploited are strong, they're strong because they see patriotism as the last refuge of scoundrels such as themselves, they're strong because they're stamping out Liberty's light, they're strong because they preach Freedom Freedom Freedom and they practice repression repression repression, they're strong because they gut the Bill of Rights, they're strong because they use the Constitution as asswipe, they're strong because they pray the Old South will rise again, this time with wage slaves of all colors, they're strong because they encourage Christian and Jewish fundamentalists to hate Moslem fundamentalists, they're strong because they ride the back of the tiger and spur the tiger on, they're strong because they're oilocrats, they're strong because they destroy wildlife refuges on principle, not simply out of greed, they're strong because they love hate and embody hate while purporting to love, they're strong because they deify greed, they're strong because they institutionalize injustice, they're strong because they foster lies and live by them, they're strong because they operate in shadows & secrecy and hate the light, they're strong because they bully and intimidate and deceive, they're strong because they admit nothing, they're strong because their words & images mean whatever they pay them to mean, they're strong because they're Humpty Dumpties and they're sitting on a wall, they're strong because they subvert the vote, they're strong because they don't do what Jesus would have done, they're strong because they would rather build more nukes than get rid of them, they're strong because they attack the wrong enemies and offend former friends, they're strong because they play into the hands of our enemies, they're strong because they believe power is the highest good and they will hold it by any means necessary.
They're strong because 9/11 is the best thing that ever happened to them, they're strong because they did not hesitate to exploit the fear and goodwill and unity of the nation and the world. They're strong because they're going it alone and letting others do their fighting for them. They're strong because they see respect for the truth as weakness. They're strong because they say one thing and do another and they rarely mean what they say or say what they mean. They're strong because their highest allegiance is to narrow self-interest, not to the nation or the world. They strong because they cannot imagine the future or remember the past and are blind to the present. They're strong because they shamelessly and cynically invoke the name of God and claim God is on their side instead of praying that they are on God's side. They're strong because they shoot first and ask questions later. Actually, they never ask questions unless they are forced to because they believe they already have the answers. They're strong because they believe that power comes out of the barrel of a gun and they cannot imagine power that is not violent. They're strong because they believe they are the chosen ones, the frozen ones. They're strong because their front man never does his homework, but gladly allows them to do his homework for him. They're strong because they have a crushing contempt for the facts. They're strong because they silence whisteblowers and exile dissenters and slander those who would tell truth to power. They're strong because they love bad science. They're strong because they're denying we're warming the globe. They're strong because they somehow imagine they can engineer an apocalypse without going down themselves, or else they've so lost sight of joy or are so eaten up with hate & fear that they're turning the whole world into a carbomb with themselves at the wheel. They're strong because they lead the fight against terrorism yet they are themselves terrifying. They're strong because they promise to save the nation they are destroying. They're strong because they've alienated America from the rest of the world and they've alienated Americans from ourselves. They're strong because they find a government of the people, for the people, by the people to be a laughable, exploitable, slogan. They're strong because they exploit our weakness and indifference and ignorance at every turn. They're strong because they think they are the ultimate players and they're playing us and they're playing the world and they think governing is a great game, not a sacred responsibility. They're strong because they think they will go on forever.
Let's prove them wrong. Before they take us down with them.
posted by mobydoug at 2:09 PM
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