The Poet's Eye
commentary by Lightning
Rod
the Poets' Eye is skeptical
without being cynical, innocent
without being naive and
critical without being
judgmental
Repetition
Is the Key to Magic
for
release on 10-21-04
What
kind of idiots does he think we are?
My jaw drops when I hear George Bush accuse John Kerry of running his
campaign on fear tactics. This was in response to Kerry's statement that
Bush would reinstate the draft and privatize Social Security if he is
re-unelected. We have come to expect all manner of fabrication and newspeak
from this administration but this is the height. From a government that
has hung its political hat on fear of terrorism this is a bit disingenuous.
Maybe the Republicans think that they can sell fried ice-cream, but at
some point lies repeated and repeated again can backfire.
Just yesterday Dick Cheney said,
"The biggest threat we face now as a nation is the possibility of terrorists ending up in the middle of one of our cities with deadlier weapons than have ever before been used against us - biological agents or a nuclear weapon or a chemical weapon of some kind to be able to threaten the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans. That's the ultimate threat. For us to have a strategy that's capable of defeating that threat, you've got to get your mind around that concept."
Talk about fear tactics. This is Dr. Strangelove wagging the dog.
The Bush II regime is based on lies. First there is the lie that they
were elected. Next there is the lie that they are somehow protecting you
from terrorism when actually they are promoting it. Then there is the
lie that progress is being made in Iraq when in reality the place is a
shambles. And, oh yes, the lie that the economy is improving and taxes
are lowered when we are all paying above two bucks a gallon for gas and
getting taxed every time we pass the pump. And this money is not going
into the public coffers, no, it is going straight into the pockets of
the cronies of this thieving junta.
The theory that if you say something often enough, that makes it true,
is a favorite of the neo-cons. But theories and theologies only survive
because they work. If America believes, because of advertising and rampant
repetition, that we need drugs that do us more harm than good and that
oatmeal will save us from heart attacks or that we can lose 20 pounds
for 20 dollars, then it's no wonder that the ideologues at Bushco think
they can sell us any old lie. Just repeat it often enough.
I only wish that we had a choice other than between Ford and Chevrolet.
I would really like to get enthusiastic over Kerry and see him as being
a real alternative to the present thieves. But I can't. I do think it
would be better to have an articulate man who has demonstrated his dedication
to his principles since he was a young soldier to represent our country
as chief executive rather than a posturing little sophomore autocrat like
George Bush, but somebody please convince me that Kerry is not a member
of the same club. If he is elected, perhaps we will invade the country
that has the richest reserves of Ketchup. Chile?
Repetition is the key to magic. That's why religion is so full of ritual.
If you do or say things over and over again they take on a magic energy.
This is also why running a modern election campaign like an advertising
operation makes sense. The slogans that both parties are using are much
like advertising jingles. They have no real substance but they stick in
your mind. And they are repeated endlessly. It's a matter of image over
message. Selling candidates is like selling toothpaste or pop CD's.
The Poet's Eye sees that even the gullible American Public has it's limits
of credulity. If the candidates continue to try to tell us that black
is white, eventually some innocent will proclaim the truth. I hope it
happens by election day.
"No one ever went broke underestimating
the intelligence of the American public."
– H.L. Mencken
Lightning
Rod
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