Joe and Dick and that Thirty Three Percent

By W. David Jenkins III

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. - Albert Einstein

The abjection of our political situation is the only true challenge today. Only facing up to this situation in all its desperation can help us get out of it. - Jean Baudrillard

Zany Cheney remarked at a recent GOP fund raiser that the violent fiasco in the Middle East was all the more reason for voters to keep the current leadership in DeeCeeVille intact come this November. The only thing more bizarre than his remark is the fact that about thirty three percent of American voters feel the same way. You know the ones:  the people that Einstein was referring to.

You know, you have to hand it to old Dead Eye Dick. Even in the face of mounting criticism from both his enemies and the neo-conservative brigade, he steadfastly maintains that Saddam Hussein and bin Laden were buddies, and that we're doing just marvy in Iraq . He is our very own Baghdad Bob, ignoring the explosions in the distance, while telling us that everything is just fine.  And nearly a third of the country still cheers him on.

 Who the Hell are these people?  Sure, you can find them on the right wing forums, or watch them bloviating on television, or hear them on the radio, yet they're next to impossible to find on the street.

For instance, at a rally for John Murtha a few weeks ago, roughly two hundred supporters came out to cheer for the Congressman.  Meanwhile, across the street were perhaps a dozen or so people calling themselves "Veterans for Truth" who had turned out to jeer the Marine veteran turned Congressman. Here was a handful of folks who probably had more flags and yellow ribbons on their vehicles than they had gas in the tank, out to show Johnstown, PA and the rest of us that "supporting the troops" only applies to those who serve blindly without questioning the fact that they've been lied to

Obviously, like the "Swift Boat Vets for Truth," these veterans are continuing the practice of confusing "truth" with smear. Just like that amazing thirty- three percent group, they do not see the reality of their shrinking numbers, and their little acts of public "patriotism" are just desperate examples of conservatives behaving badly.

These are the people who applaud Rush Limbaugh as he mocks those American families trapped in the middle of a war zone in Lebanon as they plead for help to escape. They also believe his spurious remarks that those who want an end to the occupation in Iraq are "celebrating the torture and beheading of two US soldiers".

These are the same people who snuggle up to Ann Coulter as she sings them lullabies about firing squads for newspaper editors, deportation of liberals, and carpet bombing of various countries.

And, how about those shivers of delight they get when Mike Weiner (a.k.a. "Savage") compares liberalism to AIDS or to dropping bunker busters on the U.N.?  Or what about how, according to Weiner,  Zarqawi was "sort of a Jesus figure" to those who oppose the war in Iraq ?

With a steady diet of such misinformation, hatred, and intolerance, it=s no wonder that we have this national malady manifested in the Thirty Three Percenters. In a country that is now known world wide for illegal invasions, acts of torture, and spying on its own citizens, the 33% folks are still convinced that a stain on a certain blue dress is a greater Constitutional crisis than anything we face today.

So as Baudrillard points out, how does a country defeat a political situation so desperate that it threatens the future of a once great and powerful nation? Well, the folks in Connecticut took a first step in that direction last week.

The voters from that state sent a message to DeeCeeVille:   if their representatives were going to keep supporting failed and deadly policy, then those representatives no longer deserve to speak for the majority.  August 8^th was a stark and unsettling exercise in democracy and, to the shame of us all, it was met with ugly and unpatriotic remarks from the White House in the guise of their media spokespersons.

The days immediately following Joe Lieberman=s well deserved defeat put the sorry state of America =s political affairs in the spotlight for the entire world to see. The Vice President reached into his bag of campaign tricks from =04 and proclaimed that the results from the Connecticut primary would encourage "al Qaeda types".  He also ranted that  it showed the dangerous effects of "extremists" taking over the Democrat party.

RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman stated that the Connecticut primary results reflected an "unfortunate embrace of isolationism, defeatism, and a 'blame America first' attitude by national Democratic leaders at a time when retreating from the world is particularly dangerous".  The arrogance of leaders who have spent six years telling the world to blow off, while accusing unapproving voters of "isolationism", is so naked in its audacity that it boggles the mind. But that's not the real kicker not by a long shot.

All the while that  the Bush administration was blasting away at folks for voting the wrong way and admonishing Democrats in general for being "weak in the war on terror", the Bush gang was sitting on important information for four days.  This information concerned a threat to airliners in Britain and to American passengers en route back to this country. According to intelligence reports, terrorists were planning to smuggle explosive liquids on board airliners headed back to the States.  The resulting detonations would allegedly produce an event that would dwarf the devastation we witnessed on 9/11.

And the Bush Gang never said a word, never quietly stepped up security until four days after they knew. Not until they could politicize a security threat to their benefit B again.

But the Thirty Three Percenters still can=t see it. Even though I can still get on a plane with a pair of scissors, a pack of matches, and a screw driver (that ban was lifted quite a while ago), the fact that I won't have any water, toothpaste or deodorant on the plane is a good reason to feel safe, knowing  that George and Co. are on the job.  Personally, I think I'd be more of a threat to my fellow passengers without the latter items but, oh well..

One quick aside about all this:  if security officials are worried about these explosive liquids and the consequences should they become mixed, why am I seeing all these confiscated items at the airport being thrown haphazardly into the same trash bin?  Just wondering.

Anyway,  so here's where America stands or, barely stands. According to those who lead us, we have the freedom to exercise our right to vote B as long as we vote for someone who will continue to enable them. If we don't, then we are accused of waving the white flag and declaring bin Laden=s birthday as a national holiday.

We have "leaders" in power who claim that the Republican party is the only one that will  keep us safe from attack, even though the State Dept. has stopped releasing the totals of international acts of terrorism (something about the number being sky high since Bush took over).

Our leaders will certainly alert us should there be any threats to our security here at home B unless a delay would be politically advantageous to them.

And while our leaders and their Thirty Three Percent will remind us of the American soldiers  dying every day in Iraq and Afghanistan to protect our freedoms, this same gang would  happily take away or restrict those freedoms and what happened in Britain is just one good reason why, by golly!  Of course, the fact that it was British and Pakistani Intelligence that thwarted the latest threat and not the result of Bush & Co.'s antiterrorist network  need not be pointed out by anyone, right?

The fact is;  the polls, the talk on the street, and now the results in Connecticut prove that the majority of Americans are waking up and are mad as Hell. We are sick to death of being led by those who can offer nothing except fear itself.  We are tired of those who claim to represent us as the opposition while continuing to support the same mistakes made over and over again. That second week in August showed just how angry voters have become and just how low and un-American the Republican leadership is.

I have a feeling the next twelve weeks are going to get really nasty.

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