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I believe that such alarm has cause, but I can't help but think that much of the image of Bush-supporting America is nothing more than a spectre - a small object back lit by an enormous light, and cast upon the wall as an image that is intimidatingly larger.
Just like anyone else, I've seen and been disgusted by my fair share of W'04 bumper stickers, but I'm optimistic that the undercurrents of common sense, humanity and constructive rational impulse over destructive irrational impulse seem to be hardwired into humans so deeply that they will critically reject any overt corruption of Democracy (at least the image of it) at home.
Do we honestly believe that, if most Americans honestly knew the facts of the grand deception this administration has perfected (not created, but perfected), that any of them would trust a word that emerged from the White House spin machine? Only if they would bother to read.
Do we honestly believe that the Melrose socialite driving her Escalade, existing only to acquire symbols of status and to gloat of them, would not question her behavior when presented with a cold outline of the transgressions caused by her gluttony? Only if she would bother to listen.
Do we honestly believe that a person who understands the meaning of the holy scriptures would ever condone the true context of our occupation of Iraq? Sure, he might support the destruction of Islam, or the securing of American safety, hence, the safety of the world through such an invasion, but would he be supportive of the Halliburtons and the Bechtels and the Carlyles of the world whose only allegiance is to the almighty dollar? I suggest that he would be vehemently opposed to such a crime, if he cared to show the same critical discretion in analyzing Bush's policy failures as he does for the democratic contender.
The ignorant, reactionary, self-absorbed, racist, overzealous and simple-minded have always existed. It is the Republican's sworn duty to exploit their weaknesses and turn them into the party's gain. This is not a secret to anyone who has been paying attention. However, although those people do exist, they are scarce in number. The GOP has been holding the light to them, casting an inaccurate shadow of reality up on the wall for us to quake before.
I believe that many liberal Americans are victims of this shadow-play. This is best described in the allegory of Plato's Cave - the common man is nothing more than a prisoner inside of a cave, shackled, facing a dimly lit wall, watching shadows pass by. He knows nothing but those shadows, so they become reality to him. Behind him is a bright light, which he is fully are unaware of. There are also men who use that light to cast the enormous shadows and, thusly, have complete control over what he perceives.
If Plato is correct that, invariably, a majority of humans fall into this "wall-watching" category, then it is our job to shatter that illusion.
To do that, we need to change the public discourse. We need to have our opinions represented in the media without balance or challenge, since the truth can only be balanced by falsity or challenged by lies.
Many musicians, actors and scholars, many of whom had spent a relatively apolitical life, have started coming out of the woodwork to challenge the seeds of plutocracy, and yet it is still not enough. Our numbers have been underrepresented, and the media has replaced our normal, concerned, intellectual, everyday faces with hateful, unpatriotic, anarchist (as a pejorative) ones.
Beyond that, liberals and progressives need to interlace their efforts quickly and effectively in order to abort any future attempts at a right-wing coup. If there is another one in November, there will be little air left in the lungs of democracy for the quaint, disjointed activist movements of the left to breathe with.
Make no mistake - those who enjoy the freedoms of a democratic society the most (e.g. activists, artists, teachers) will be the first to perish in a new America led by the manipulations and deceits of a neo-conservative ruling class. We need to start asking the hard questions about how we're going to survive within a dictatorship if we choose to stay and challenge this regime, and we need to start asking them now.
Even our flimsy cyberspace freedoms are capable of being erased in a split-second. Are you prepared for a world where you cannot access the truth through forms of liberal media on the online? Where did you learn most of what you know about the administration's lies? Don't tell me it was network news. I'd venture to say that many of us are not prepared for the possibility (and I'd say the eventuality) of an Electronic Doomsday. This "things'll get better" mentality is precisely why the right considers the left unorganized. The right has spent decades conspiring against the left, like school bullies who have agreed to steal the lunch money from some unprepared, unwitting, weakling honors-students. The left has spent much of that time vainly defending itself.
This is our call to unite and fight back, since our numbers greatly overpower the handful of extremists that wish to oppress us using deceptive policies and deceptive media.
So, on one hand we believe that the media have systematically manipulated us, and on the other hand, we believe they're being honest in posting the polls which show a dead-heat between Bush and Kerry?
What we do not need to do is play this game tailored for us by the elite, who are nothing less than giddy when they see us chasing the SwiftBoat Veterans or Dan Rather up and down the wall in total distraction while they put the finishing touches on what promises to be a truly fascist American state.
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