Re: Charles Carreon, The Arizona Kid
Posted: Sat Oct 05, 2013 6:39 am
PRESIDENT WOLF, by Charles Carreon
“Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” President Bush once tried to say that in a speech, got lost in the attempt, and finally explained to the audience that, whatever the saying was, the meaning was clear – you shouldn’t allow yourself to be fooled twice. Some people focus on the wrong part of this story, and think Bush comes off looking stupid, but actually only a boorish “hater” would look at it that way. Sometimes the words don’t come out right – but that’s not the point – the point is that the guy is trying to be straight with you. When he fumbles his line, he takes another tack and trusts you to understand his point. That’s called reaching out to the audience. It works, and it’s the type of elegant save that has made Bush the sort of President who can stay popular with a burger-eating, RV-driving, tax-paying, national security conscious electorate.
But what if Bush’s folksy bumbles and straight-to-the-camera pleas were just the bland deceptions of a bald-faced liar? What if Bush’s pants exploded in flames in front of the entire world? Then you would just be left with a graceless lout for a President, a man who talks with his mouth full, says “shit” over lunch with Tony Blair and other world leaders, refers to heads of state and the chief of the UN as if they were lackeys, and sexually harasses the Prime Minister of Germany with an unwanted shoulder massage. Hey, Condi loves it! Loosen up, babe!
Many liberals predict a reversal of fortune for the President that has yet to be reported in the major news media because Karl Rove is not dead, the Congressional mid-term elections may yet be fixed, and Dick Cheney has about a foot of toilet plunger left before he’s done giving the American public the Amadou Diallou treatment. Have you noticed how, now that Bush’s disapproval rating is at least 67%, Dick is the guy still dealing aggressively from the deck of lies? Cheney’s popularity is not in issue – he’s popular in South Dakota, in corporate boardrooms, and on Fox News. His irredeemable rascality has become the administration’s last resource in the war on truth. He will say anything, then deny saying it, while picking up campaign contributions for having said it. Like IV drug users who inject themselves with water to create the illusion of getting high, the media is still shooting up TV watchers with Cheney’s zero-percent truth solution, although fewer report getting the much-desired experience of belief.
What ever happened to “checks and balances?” Let us turn for interpretive guidance to the original spinmeister, P.T. Barnum, who assured us that “no one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people.” Barnum also famously divided people into those who could be fooled all of the time and those who could be fooled some of the time. At present, the US Congress wishes to be fooled as much of the time as possible. Witness the stubborn support that Lieberman has received from Congressional pseudo-Democrats who defend his defection from the party as an act of conscience, instead of a baldfaced, Cheney-supported effort to split the Democratic ticket in Connecticut. Outside of Congress, most Americans now fall into that other category – those who can only be fooled some of the time. For them, the days of getting high on patriotism and security threats to forget the pain of living in a debt-based economy are over. “You’re lying,” says the public to a disbelieving chorus of prostituted news agencies. “How can you tell?” respond the news agencies, with crestfallen looks. “Your lips are moving,” we reply.
Just a few days ago, twenty-one Generals, professionals in the science of modern warfare, sent Bush a letter telling him that Iran is not a nuclear threat, urging him to quit “saber-rattling” and start negotiating. Yet with a puff of wind from Condi’s Department of State, these emeritus warriors were dismissed as amateurs. We will get another war cocked and loaded. The President will engage in brinksmanship with religious zealots. He will use inflammatory rhetoric if he is so inspired in his communions with the Lord. Our God can beat up your God, and if you don’t think so, just ask Saddam, and he thought he was God.
Bush is, after all, a “war president,” as he was so eager to tell the TV cameras once that he said it nearly twenty times in under an hour. Sounds like a boy with a new puppy, but a lot more dangerous. Aren’t you glad we have a war president? He comes with super eyes that can see the future, super muscles to beat up your enemies, a super credit card to buy everything he wants for himself and his friends, and a super public relations budget that produces new lies when the old ones wear out. He is so super that he even believes that his leadership has been a blessing for the nation. Along the way, he may have had to tell some stretchers, but it was all for the best. Just ask all the people on military bases who cheer every time he makes a speech. He has to keep those people cheering, because those are the small group of people who can be fooled all the time, and it’s his job to keep fooling them.
When our President cries “Wolf!” you know he means it. There’s a wolf out there. It may not be threatening particular sheep right now, but all wolves are scary, fanged beasts who kill sheep. Who, after all, could claim there are no wolves? Only one who wishes the wolf to devour the flocks! A person who isn’t a shepherd -- a wolf-sympathizer. We aren’t talking about the petty matter of whether a wolf-attack occurred on this or that occasion. We’re talking now about whether you believe in wolves or not, and whose side you are on. That’s what you call controlling the debate, and that’s how you neutralize concerns about silly things like who told the truth when. Welcome to the world of the wolf.
“Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” President Bush once tried to say that in a speech, got lost in the attempt, and finally explained to the audience that, whatever the saying was, the meaning was clear – you shouldn’t allow yourself to be fooled twice. Some people focus on the wrong part of this story, and think Bush comes off looking stupid, but actually only a boorish “hater” would look at it that way. Sometimes the words don’t come out right – but that’s not the point – the point is that the guy is trying to be straight with you. When he fumbles his line, he takes another tack and trusts you to understand his point. That’s called reaching out to the audience. It works, and it’s the type of elegant save that has made Bush the sort of President who can stay popular with a burger-eating, RV-driving, tax-paying, national security conscious electorate.
But what if Bush’s folksy bumbles and straight-to-the-camera pleas were just the bland deceptions of a bald-faced liar? What if Bush’s pants exploded in flames in front of the entire world? Then you would just be left with a graceless lout for a President, a man who talks with his mouth full, says “shit” over lunch with Tony Blair and other world leaders, refers to heads of state and the chief of the UN as if they were lackeys, and sexually harasses the Prime Minister of Germany with an unwanted shoulder massage. Hey, Condi loves it! Loosen up, babe!
Many liberals predict a reversal of fortune for the President that has yet to be reported in the major news media because Karl Rove is not dead, the Congressional mid-term elections may yet be fixed, and Dick Cheney has about a foot of toilet plunger left before he’s done giving the American public the Amadou Diallou treatment. Have you noticed how, now that Bush’s disapproval rating is at least 67%, Dick is the guy still dealing aggressively from the deck of lies? Cheney’s popularity is not in issue – he’s popular in South Dakota, in corporate boardrooms, and on Fox News. His irredeemable rascality has become the administration’s last resource in the war on truth. He will say anything, then deny saying it, while picking up campaign contributions for having said it. Like IV drug users who inject themselves with water to create the illusion of getting high, the media is still shooting up TV watchers with Cheney’s zero-percent truth solution, although fewer report getting the much-desired experience of belief.
What ever happened to “checks and balances?” Let us turn for interpretive guidance to the original spinmeister, P.T. Barnum, who assured us that “no one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people.” Barnum also famously divided people into those who could be fooled all of the time and those who could be fooled some of the time. At present, the US Congress wishes to be fooled as much of the time as possible. Witness the stubborn support that Lieberman has received from Congressional pseudo-Democrats who defend his defection from the party as an act of conscience, instead of a baldfaced, Cheney-supported effort to split the Democratic ticket in Connecticut. Outside of Congress, most Americans now fall into that other category – those who can only be fooled some of the time. For them, the days of getting high on patriotism and security threats to forget the pain of living in a debt-based economy are over. “You’re lying,” says the public to a disbelieving chorus of prostituted news agencies. “How can you tell?” respond the news agencies, with crestfallen looks. “Your lips are moving,” we reply.
Just a few days ago, twenty-one Generals, professionals in the science of modern warfare, sent Bush a letter telling him that Iran is not a nuclear threat, urging him to quit “saber-rattling” and start negotiating. Yet with a puff of wind from Condi’s Department of State, these emeritus warriors were dismissed as amateurs. We will get another war cocked and loaded. The President will engage in brinksmanship with religious zealots. He will use inflammatory rhetoric if he is so inspired in his communions with the Lord. Our God can beat up your God, and if you don’t think so, just ask Saddam, and he thought he was God.
Bush is, after all, a “war president,” as he was so eager to tell the TV cameras once that he said it nearly twenty times in under an hour. Sounds like a boy with a new puppy, but a lot more dangerous. Aren’t you glad we have a war president? He comes with super eyes that can see the future, super muscles to beat up your enemies, a super credit card to buy everything he wants for himself and his friends, and a super public relations budget that produces new lies when the old ones wear out. He is so super that he even believes that his leadership has been a blessing for the nation. Along the way, he may have had to tell some stretchers, but it was all for the best. Just ask all the people on military bases who cheer every time he makes a speech. He has to keep those people cheering, because those are the small group of people who can be fooled all the time, and it’s his job to keep fooling them.
When our President cries “Wolf!” you know he means it. There’s a wolf out there. It may not be threatening particular sheep right now, but all wolves are scary, fanged beasts who kill sheep. Who, after all, could claim there are no wolves? Only one who wishes the wolf to devour the flocks! A person who isn’t a shepherd -- a wolf-sympathizer. We aren’t talking about the petty matter of whether a wolf-attack occurred on this or that occasion. We’re talking now about whether you believe in wolves or not, and whose side you are on. That’s what you call controlling the debate, and that’s how you neutralize concerns about silly things like who told the truth when. Welcome to the world of the wolf.