Sunday, February 10, 2008

Stirring a Bubbling Brew of Reelection Magic

Dear George,

By God, sir, you are a warlock, standing over your bubbling cauldron of fetid brew as it spreads its foul miasma across the land, clogging the senses and disorienting the mind. You mumble the incantations that summon your demons from the Ninth Circle of Hell, broke free of the frozen waters of Cocytus. Your demons march in lock-step order behind you carrying high the blood-stained banners of War and Terror, banners dripping with the gore of women and children to the greater glory of our fair Republic.

There you stood proud and tall before the Conservative Political Action Committee[i] conjuring up your shopworn illusion of a “stark ideological choice at a time of war.” National Security is the magic word you hope will rally your base, and it will rally it will for “national” is but a code word for “corporate”. You and your minions well understand that you are not entering a presidential election, but are on a quest to win the Corporate Stamp of Approval.

How beautifully Mitt danced to your tune when he dropped out of the race, casting his own spell when he said he was quitting because he would not abet “the surrender to terror.”

But the shining moment of your speech, the moment that proved you were still capable of spreading the opaque net of illusion over the public’s eyes, was when you said, “This is an important election. Prosperity and peace hang in the balance.”

And well they do, sir, for should the Democrats take the White House there is a danger that both would return from their exile to the detriment of the corporate bottom line and the health of our Military-Industrial Complex.

No, George, you have the magic formula that has repositioned both peace and prosperity for the New American Century as you bomb the world into peace and bring us the prosperity for the few that can only come from the impoverishment of the many.

Stir your cauldron well, for its toxic brew must conjure up another four years of Republican rule, and dime-store magic is the only force that can make it happen.

Your admirer,
Belacqua Jones

[i]“Bush presses for G.O.P. Unity; Party Set to Focus on Security.” The New York Times, Saturday, Feb. 9, 2008, Page A1.

8 comments:

RoseCovered Glasses said...

am a 2 tour Vietnam Veteran who recently retired after 36 years of working in the Defense Industrial Complex on many of the weapons systems being used by our forces as we speak.

Politicians make no difference.

We have bought into the Military Industrial Complex (MIC). If you would like to read how this happens please see:

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2007/03/spyagency200703

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2007/11/halliburton200711

Through a combination of public apathy and threats by the MIC we have let the SYSTEM get too large. It is now a SYSTEMIC problem and the SYSTEM is out of control. Government and industry are merging and that is very dangerous.

There is no conspiracy. The SYSTEM has gotten so big that those who make it up and run it day to day in industry and government simply are perpetuating their existance.

The politicians rely on them for details and recommendations because they cannot possibly grasp the nuances of the environment and the BIG SYSTEM.

So, the system has to go bust and then be re-scaled, fixed and re-designed to run efficiently and prudently, just like any other big machine that runs poorly or becomes obsolete or dangerous.

This situation will right itself through trauma. I see a government ENRON on the horizon, with an associated house cleaning.

The next president will come and go along with his appointees and politicos. The event to watch is the collapse of the MIC.

For more details see:

http://rosecoveredglasses.blogspot.com

Case Wagenvoord said...

Glasses,

Yours in one of the most intelligent assessment of the MIC I've read to date. I agree, it is no conspiracy, but blind momentum driven by ego, greed and stupidity.

It will certainly require a major meltdown before the system can be retrofitted to a proper scale.

Thank you so much for your input.

Anonymous said...

RC is of course right - glad to have found you, RC. And/but I like this letter, Case, and I am enjoying the imagery of witchcraft and deviltry.

Case Wagenvoord said...

Cero,

We saw a production of "Macbeth" last night and that inspired this letter.

Mark Prime (tpm/Confession Zero) said...

Of all the rivers of Hades... Cocytus seems most fitting for George to land, considering all the hubris.

George W. shall wander its river banks for 100 years, the same time of the latest estimate of the length of our stay in Iraq. The irony couldn't be more palpable...

Mark Prime (tpm/Confession Zero) said...

Stir your cauldron well, indeed!

Great letter, my friend.

Case Wagenvoord said...

Watching that production of Macbeth, I was struck with the similarities between Bush and Macbeth. The only difference was that MacBeth was articulate.

Mark Prime (tpm/Confession Zero) said...

He's cursed, that's for sure. Or maybe the curse is on us.