Neocon theater
The mind reels.
I thought at first that this was some kind of trial balloon sent up by Rumsfeld to see how long it would float before dropping to the ground with a thud. But no, apparently, it's for real. It is hard to believe that after watching this crew in action for five long years, that they could still pull off something so astonishingly and transperently crass that I'm left speechless and dumbfounded.
Perhaps, I also thought, like the RNC plan to hold a convention event at the site of the World Trade Center in New York, this too will be shelved when the light of of the mainstream media falls on the rotting corpse of an administration that is shown once again to be politicizing the murdered dead of September 11, 2001. Or, in this case, to market their failing war. But, just as the walk-up to war was aided and abetted by said "MSM," here are the corporate supporters of this war rally:
Even the Washington Post wants to get in on the spectacle action. For spectacle is the aim here. To Rumsfeld and his keepers in the White House, it is all theater; a show in which they are the leading players. They are surrounded by what looks to them like stage blood, but they know death doesn't come their way in the script. Neither does accountability to the fathers, mothers, husbands, wives, sons, and daughters of the "extras" who aren't coming back from Iraq, or are coming back with physical or mental wounds that won't soon heal. Extras in the extravaganza of neocon theater.
Events in Iraq are outside of their control. The polls show a public growing fed up with Bush's handling of the war, the lack of planning, inadequate troop levels, shifting rationale, no conception of what "victory" would mean now that candies aren't being showered on the troops from the outstretched hands of grateful Iraqis. What to do? Let's put on a parade!
Bread and circus, baby, bread and circus. Good thing Subway is a sponsor.
That's why Cindy Sheehan has Bush and his mouthbreathing cheerleaders on the right so angry and afraid. She brings the backstage out to take center stage. She represents what Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and the delusional fools who work for those delusional fools have been trying to avoid at all costs: real sacrifice.
Bush can avoid her (though he can longer ignore her, as shown in yesterday's news conference). But she is now the very public face of a mother's grief and a representative of the few number of Americans who have had to make the most intense of sacrifices. Not all those who've lost loved ones will agree with her or her tactics, but the more the braying asses on FoxNews try to villify her the more public her grief and her righteous anger becomes (I imagine, though, soon, Roger Ailes -- the evil one -- will issue the memo to stop talking about her, since shitting on her while she waits in dusty Crawford to tell Bush about her dead son is only raising her stature).
We are at war. War has costs. If the American people find themselves paying those costs, they will begin to ask what they're paying for. And the Cheney administration has no good answer. So, "No new taxes." No draft. No photos from Walter Reed.
Instead, parades. And Clint Black.
WASHINGTON, Aug. 9, 2005 – The Defense Department today announced the first "America Supports You Freedom Walk" to honor the victims of 9/11 and America's military personnel, as well as to celebrate freedom.
The Freedom Walk will begin at 10 a.m. Sept. 11 in the Pentagon South parking lot, near the site where the airliner crashed into the Pentagon on 9/11. The walk route will consist of a two-mile trek through Arlington National Cemetery, over the Potomac River, and will end by the reflecting pool on the National Mall, where a free concert featuring country music star Clint Black will take place.
"I am proud and honored to be part of the America Supports You Freedom Walk to honor the victims of 9/11 and to support our men and women in uniform," Black said.
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld made the announcement today at the Pentagon.
I thought at first that this was some kind of trial balloon sent up by Rumsfeld to see how long it would float before dropping to the ground with a thud. But no, apparently, it's for real. It is hard to believe that after watching this crew in action for five long years, that they could still pull off something so astonishingly and transperently crass that I'm left speechless and dumbfounded.
Perhaps, I also thought, like the RNC plan to hold a convention event at the site of the World Trade Center in New York, this too will be shelved when the light of of the mainstream media falls on the rotting corpse of an administration that is shown once again to be politicizing the murdered dead of September 11, 2001. Or, in this case, to market their failing war. But, just as the walk-up to war was aided and abetted by said "MSM," here are the corporate supporters of this war rally:
The walk was made possible with the help of several local in-kind supporters, including Stars and Stripes newspaper, Pentagon Federal Credit Union, Subway, Washington Post, Lockheed Martin, WTOP, ABC/WJLA-TV Channel 7 and News Channel 8, and the Washington Convention & Tourism Corporation, according to the Freedom Walk Web site.
Even the Washington Post wants to get in on the spectacle action. For spectacle is the aim here. To Rumsfeld and his keepers in the White House, it is all theater; a show in which they are the leading players. They are surrounded by what looks to them like stage blood, but they know death doesn't come their way in the script. Neither does accountability to the fathers, mothers, husbands, wives, sons, and daughters of the "extras" who aren't coming back from Iraq, or are coming back with physical or mental wounds that won't soon heal. Extras in the extravaganza of neocon theater.
Events in Iraq are outside of their control. The polls show a public growing fed up with Bush's handling of the war, the lack of planning, inadequate troop levels, shifting rationale, no conception of what "victory" would mean now that candies aren't being showered on the troops from the outstretched hands of grateful Iraqis. What to do? Let's put on a parade!
Bread and circus, baby, bread and circus. Good thing Subway is a sponsor.
That's why Cindy Sheehan has Bush and his mouthbreathing cheerleaders on the right so angry and afraid. She brings the backstage out to take center stage. She represents what Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and the delusional fools who work for those delusional fools have been trying to avoid at all costs: real sacrifice.
Bush can avoid her (though he can longer ignore her, as shown in yesterday's news conference). But she is now the very public face of a mother's grief and a representative of the few number of Americans who have had to make the most intense of sacrifices. Not all those who've lost loved ones will agree with her or her tactics, but the more the braying asses on FoxNews try to villify her the more public her grief and her righteous anger becomes (I imagine, though, soon, Roger Ailes -- the evil one -- will issue the memo to stop talking about her, since shitting on her while she waits in dusty Crawford to tell Bush about her dead son is only raising her stature).
We are at war. War has costs. If the American people find themselves paying those costs, they will begin to ask what they're paying for. And the Cheney administration has no good answer. So, "No new taxes." No draft. No photos from Walter Reed.
Instead, parades. And Clint Black.
posted by John at 3:04 PM
1 Comments:
The Washington Post can't avoid embarrassing itself these days, it appears.
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