With the 2008 elections nearing, the light at the end of the dark tunnel of the Bush administration is finally showing its faint, warm glow. From Bush's faith-based initiative and his support of teaching "Intelligent Design" in public schools, to "bring 'em on" and "Mission Accomplished," the president has sent America into an intellectual tailspin and torn the nation apart.
Bush's immediate response to September 11, 2001 has made not a signed copy of a peace accord but an autographed copy of The Pet Goat the holy grail of memorabilia collectors around the world. Remember duct taping yourself into rooms, and the still active color-coded "Homeland Security Advisory System"? We remain at orange, which is as bad as it gets until the world is blown apart.
With all we've been through, cynics would say the terrorists have won. Terrorism has brought out the worst in our national idiot, but it has brought out the best in his countrymen. Congratulations. We've survived 9/11, zip-lock bags at the airport, wire tapping, searching of library records, torture, reversal of habeas corpus, and a president who has rung up the largest national debt in the history of the United States.
Education, not religion, will be our only salvation. George W. Bush's cold-shoulder to science, his fear-mongering, and his lack of a productive use of America's intellectual resources will be his legacy. The next president must help our nation unwind its frazzled nerves so we can laugh at the world as we repair our wounded optimism.
Americans are survivors. Our parents and grandparents dealt with unreasonable forces, many of them even more threatening than President Bush. Racism, WWII, intolerance against anyone who wasn't straight, white, Protestant and male, all added up to a world that none of us would ever want to revisit. Then there was the atom bomb.
The atomic bomb vaporized world order, ended Hitler's war, and rang the bell greeting humanity's worst fear. The thin membrane dividing life and death was diseased with the potential of planetary genocide. In 1949, the Soviet Union detonated its first nuclear device. The cold war had begun.
Man's devolution escalated into overwhelming fear across the globe. Chilled Americans walked the street waiting -- half-expecting -- humanity to instantly inflict its final, fatal folly. Americans were desperate for hope from this frozen state of nuclear psychosis.
"Duck and Cover" was released in 1952 by the federal government as a nuclear annihilation instruction film targeting children's fears. Featuring "Bert the Turtle," it was shown in every school across the United States.
"When you see the flash, be like Bert the turtle, and duck and cover." ---- Today the short film stands as a monument to government manipulation, and the pathetic power of hate, greed, and the absolute silliness of man.
We cannot save ourselves through anthropomorphic nuclear turtles, or terrorism color charts. With the expiration of the START (Stategic Arms Reduction) treaty looming in 2009, negotiations between the USA and Russia are more important than ever. We must let our next president know that he/she is accountable to peace, or eventually our own threats and violence will make us all turtle soup.
Brendon Devore and I made our own version of "Duck and Cover" last week. Please pass it around to your friends. It is hard but very funny. Thank you Rosemarie Sanchez, brilliant Brendon Devore, and OVGuide.com, you guys are the best video/entertainment guide on the web.
You can also find the link to "Duck and Cover 2008" here.