If I didn’t love this place and the ideals that I hold dear so much I might just think that what was happening with the political right in the United States was the most beautifully absurd political theatre I had ever seen. It is becoming more and more painful to hear how earnest so many of them are in their hope that what they are calling “Tea Parties” will actually result in anything other than the status quo from a right wing political establishment that is just shy of eating its young to survive. It makes it harder and harder for me to listen to and watch these media vultures perpetrate what seems more and more clearly will be a tragic and shameless exploitation of faith.
If I didn’t care – I might just sit back and watch things happen, but the fact is....I do care. I care about political ideals and a healthy marketplace of ideas. I care about a balance of power and I care about a path with a profound sense of bitterness at the end of the road and it turns my stomach to watch people be lied to and to watch people be used.
So here…addressed to my rank and file adversaries on the right – are my concerns for your political future. You are being swindled! You are being lied to! You are being exploited! And those that are doing this have done it to you before and will continue doing this as long as you let them. I am talking about FOX news, I am talking about Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity and Bill O’Reilly and Glenn Beck and…. – and any actual Republican elected official who has the brass juevos to show up at any of your Tea Parties. They will even trot a few pop media whores across the stage to hock their latest wares. Remember when you see them that these geniuses are the EXACT bunch whose strategic wisdom has painted you into a desperate corner in a cold room. Do you need a revolution? Absolutely! But what you need most is a revolution of leadership, ideas and strategies in your own party – or a new party all together.
These shameless weasels are doing their very best to cozy up to the organizers of your Tea-parties to co-opt your outrage and energy and turn it into fundraisers and campaign designs for their own benefit. They WILL be asking you for your money AND your time! They WILL say that you must not advocate an actual revolution; they WILL say that the Republican party needs a major overhaul and just look over there at the ones that need to be exiled! They WILL say that they feel JUST AS ANGRY AS YOU ARE. But they don’t mean a word of it. They are leeches and the blood they are sucking is your credibility.
On Thursday morning, when you have watched yourself on the news and you are settling into the understanding that what I have said is true, there is gonna be a nasty, dirty taste in your mouth and you will feel every bit as used as that lonely character you’ve seen in the romantic tragedies time after time who finally thought that it was true love and finally gave into the pressure and the urges…but ultimately woke up all alone again…and now for the last time!
(Epic and bloody crime spree to follow)…
If I didn’t care – I might just sit back and watch things happen, but the fact is....I do care. I care about political ideals and a healthy marketplace of ideas. I care about a balance of power and I care about a path with a profound sense of bitterness at the end of the road and it turns my stomach to watch people be lied to and to watch people be used.
So here…addressed to my rank and file adversaries on the right – are my concerns for your political future. You are being swindled! You are being lied to! You are being exploited! And those that are doing this have done it to you before and will continue doing this as long as you let them. I am talking about FOX news, I am talking about Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity and Bill O’Reilly and Glenn Beck and…. – and any actual Republican elected official who has the brass juevos to show up at any of your Tea Parties. They will even trot a few pop media whores across the stage to hock their latest wares. Remember when you see them that these geniuses are the EXACT bunch whose strategic wisdom has painted you into a desperate corner in a cold room. Do you need a revolution? Absolutely! But what you need most is a revolution of leadership, ideas and strategies in your own party – or a new party all together.
These shameless weasels are doing their very best to cozy up to the organizers of your Tea-parties to co-opt your outrage and energy and turn it into fundraisers and campaign designs for their own benefit. They WILL be asking you for your money AND your time! They WILL say that you must not advocate an actual revolution; they WILL say that the Republican party needs a major overhaul and just look over there at the ones that need to be exiled! They WILL say that they feel JUST AS ANGRY AS YOU ARE. But they don’t mean a word of it. They are leeches and the blood they are sucking is your credibility.
On Thursday morning, when you have watched yourself on the news and you are settling into the understanding that what I have said is true, there is gonna be a nasty, dirty taste in your mouth and you will feel every bit as used as that lonely character you’ve seen in the romantic tragedies time after time who finally thought that it was true love and finally gave into the pressure and the urges…but ultimately woke up all alone again…and now for the last time!
(Epic and bloody crime spree to follow)…
Your post reminded me of this piece http://trueslant.com/matttaibbi/2009/04/14/americas-peasant-mentality/. "Angry peasant mentality" also sounds like a cool band name.
ReplyDeleteI had not read this - but I love a lot of Taibbi's stuff and now that I read it, I love this as well. He does come off as rather more arrogant than I am generally comfortable with, but c'est la vie!
ReplyDeleteHey, ya know this was back in April?
ReplyDeleteIt WAS!?! It reads like it is totally prescient RIGHT NOW!!! How can that possibly be? It's like the author was looking into the future or something. Such amazing powers of perception....
ReplyDelete