The Faithful and the Afraid

Like a Shavian-meets-Rovian tongue twister, the media beams its memes into the mainstreams.

And by jove, we get it.

If this presidency does fail (as the current meme goes), it will be the biggest back alley abortion in history. And the knitting needle will have been wielded by Republicans.

In one stunning act of hypocrisy after another, the "pro-life" party icily assassinates a living, breathing entity in the form of this presidency and its policies, deluded demigods that they are. Too crazy with self-righteousness and too in love with the militant religious icons which tramp through their dreams, every person holding an opposing point of view is a demon or a despot attacked with unyielding ferocity, either blockaded, leaving it to starve and rot or else swarmed and utterly, cruelly smothered.

They are a study in the consequences of blind love and blind hate: they love an unborn fetus but hate an evolved human being; they love a half-baked lie but detest the naked truth.

This is some party, folks, the kind Edgar Allen Poe described in The Masque of the Red Death. Some Repugs may see this (doubtful) and protest, saying not all of them are like that. But that would be yet another lie. Allowing such destruction to flourish is aiding and abetting; saying nothing as the drones launch their filthy tirades is tacit approval. And to the others looking on from the safety of their apartments, does the name Kitty Genovese mean anything? Of course it doesn't. That's just detritus at the bottom of the history bin.

Rather than inspiring hope the Republicans inspire fear, which is, possibly, an even greater motivator. It can certainly cause even those who would benefit the most from a humane and hopeful social policy to reject it outright.

Perhaps it is the faith in fear itself that Repugs stir within the hollow hearts of their followers, creating a legion of the Faithful Afraid, marching into town halls and into malls and into homes and into minds, screaming their war cries, spreading their paranoia, creating a killing storm. Katrina's got nothing on the Republicans.

If He was around today they'd have torn Jesus apart. Shit, they already have.

 

 

Comments

[laurenc]

here's the great irony: most Democrats are far more progressive than those in the Senate AND more progressive than Obama. So he is not leading them in our direction; in fact, he scores points by throwing us under the bus (and I mean the undocumented and proponents of women's privacy rights; notice no further protection for physicians performing legal procedures to help women).

We are stuck (did it to ourselves) with a President who threatens the Repubs as being more liberal than he really is and who tries to prove how il-liberal he is by bashing us. Tragic mess. And John Edwards, the only real populist in the race, got ensnared in a sex scandal. Tragic mess. Poor world.

[RobHunt]

It's one thing to suggest that Republicans are a problem when there's a Republican in the White House, and Republicans control one or both Houses of Congress. There are even times, I suppose, where Republicans could be considered "problematic" by some if their numbers in Congress allowed them to thwart Democrat initiatives. But Republicans today are in no such position. They are totally out of power in every meaningful way, and if Democrats were unified they could pass any law they ever dreamt of in their philosophy. Are you suggesting that a Republican caucus the size of a small dinner party is capable of outmaneuvering a power trio like Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and Rahm Emanuel? Or is it rather a case of the most articulate President in history, somehow unable to win a rhetorical battle against the likes of "discredited hacks" such as Rush Limbaugh or Glenn Beck? In either case, your "problems" clearly have far more to do with the inability of your leaders to lead, than they do with any ineffectual protests from a desperately weak opposition.

[Steven Weber - Huffpost Blogger]

Rob...
The Republicans are dead weight. And if you've ever tried to lift dead weight (insert marriage joke here) you know what I mean. Anyone can stall a process. The Democrat's weakness rests in their desire to create bipartisan legislation with a party who'll have none of it! The Dems are by no means saints and your comment that their problems "have far more to do with the inability of your leaders to lead, than they do with any ineffectual protests from a desperately weak opposition" is fairly accurate.

At the same time, such an assertion is disingenuous, in my opinion. Politics is driven more and more by the media which lures viewers with provocative, often distracting fare. Witness the incendiary but fully discredited high profile attacks on Obama and his policies from day one. It astounds me that the hard lessons learned from 8 years of complete Republican dominion, a time when nary a single proposal emanating from that administration bore anything but rotten fruit (pardon my metaphor) and led directly to the sorry state of this union continue to go unheeded, indeed buried under a mountain of salacious distraction.

What is the endgame, then? Where're the real Republicans, the fiscal conservatives? They certainly wouldn't have allowed Bush to finance the morass in Iraq and Afghanistan? Would they?

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steven-weber/the-faithful-and-the-afra_b_288616.html but the business of governing the country must go on.

[Steve1]

Exactly! The media acts as if the Bush years never happened and the clock was reset under Obama's watch, all the while with the mess Bush left him.

[lgillooly]

Inciting hatred, fear and revolt is somehow protected as Free Speech....­The problem is we are accepting and allowing our own destruction so a handful of propaganda masters can poison our society with words of hate, race, fear and lies with NO accountability to facts. This is not what our Founders were protecting in the 1st amendment. This is the enemy within our Country so that the same Corporatists keep us in our place. Our media is owned by a handful of megacorporations. They pay 10's of millions each to Beck, Hannity, Rush, O'Reilly, Dobbs etc to make sure that power stays in their hands. Whoever controls the messages and frames the debate will control.

[July rose]

Another one outta the park!

[NoFactsJustTruth]

Unfettered and ridiculous public hypocrisy is now the merit badge, Steven, that buys access to the party ladders, and also the innermost sanctums of lobbyists bundled campaign contributions. Repeatedly compromising ALL personal integrity and principle cannot be easy at first, butt enough of that same torture over and over - the victim just becomes numb, and continued torture then has permanent effects.

It undoubtedly 'proves' though, whether one has what it takes to be the 'ugly American' (republican't) - and just not give a ...'public option'.

[ReealOne]

Another excellent one Steven! B R A V O!!

[luciadulu]

Amen, brother.

[MNinWI]

It is time to write to your Congress people & them you've had enough and they are to take a stand against the racism so publicly displayed by the Republican party and the cretins they have bamboozled .
If those being used had the inclination, they would see what dupes they are for the western and southern bigots and those who have been bought by corporate. And did everyone see Stephen Colbert's "the word" last night? If not, go watch it at his website. Excuse me now, I have some emails to send off.

[BethS]

As I finished reading this I saw and heard Mr. Burns from 'The Simpsons".­..finger clapping and saying... EXCELLENT

[Steve1]

Yes, and I've said as much on this site, if Obama was Jesus Christ himself, they'd be yelling, "you lie" and much worse, especially if he kept his hair oh so long. These people are racists and full of hate, because they just can't stand the truth and hate facts.

[WWIImartin]

Such prose as Steven's is worthy of the best writers in English.

[Social Construct]

Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right ....

Corporate generals command from their high rise bunkers, spewing the filth of mass media distraction over conquered airwaves and barking orders to their congressional aides de camp to send the hordes of right-winged minions to descend upon the land. War Pigs in three-piece suits.

[Konnie]

wordsmithie - dead on. straight into the heart of the darkness. so sad, and so true.
i want to cry.......­.....i've written before, i don't even think they - and by extension - we - can
be pulled back from the ledge even by one of their own.......­......the loons would think
in their paranoia that their hero had been "gotten to".

[heydee17]

Steven, To a degree we are all complicit in not saying what had to be said, though the media has a lot to answer for in this discussion. Why do we know more than we need to know about the birthers, teabaggers and anti-healthcare reform zealots agendas than we did about anti-war protesters in the lead up to the invasion of Iraq or the people against the "Patriot Act" and its repercussions. It is pretty simple, it is the coveted target audience of the mainstream media. We don't have to read between the lines to know what this means, as just look at what is the make up of the typical Fox News viewer.

[sunny123]

You've got it right. I haven't heard it said better. Thanks for sharing, I wish everyone would read this.