Give
Us The Word
By Sheila Samples
08 November, 2006
Countercurrents.org
Under the Bush bridge
Lying, dueling-banjo words
Need a Fix. The Word.**
When
I awoke on December 13, 2000, my first thought was -- this is the first
day of the worst years of my life. I lay there, attempting in vain to
come up with just one redeeming quality possessed by the foolish little
brute illegally foisted upon this republic by five black-robed fascists
-- just one sliver of hope for the American people to escape the impending
disaster of corporate pillage and rape. There was none.
What a dirty, rotten way
to start the day.
Each day has been nastier
than the one before. Despair spiraling into dread before exploding into
a cacophony of lies, deceit, filthy corruption, and nauseating perversion.
And that's just the media. No entity is as ruthless nor works with more
relentless fervor to protect the criminals in this administration --
and cover up their crimes -- than the US mainstream media.
And few are better at it
than MSNBC's Chris Matthews who, after weeks of smearing Democratic
candidates and praising their Republican opponents, finally gave up
Saturday and declared if Tuesday's election "breaks bad for the
president," the "world press, which is anti-American already,
will jump on this and say Bush has lost his control over his own government.
It'll look bad for the president and world diplomacy."
As a last resort before the
elections, Matthews played the patriotism card that has been so successful
since 9-11 -- if the Democrats win, Bush will look weak in a time of
war. A vote for a Democrat is a vote for the terrorists. And the day
before, ABC's George Stephanopoulos asked Cheney the Veep if the recent
violence in Iraq that resulted in 105 American soldiers and marines
being blown to bits in October was an insurgent "strategy"
to influence the midterm elections. "Does that mean," Stephanopoulos
prompted Cheney innocently, "that a Democratic victory is a victory
for the insurgents?"
Bush tossed this particular
talking point to the media during an Oct. 30 campaign speech at Georgia
Southern University in Statesboro -- "However they put it, the
Democrat (sic) approach in Iraq comes down to this: The terrorists win
and America loses," Bush said with a smirk and a wink. "That's
what's at stake in this election. The Democrat (sic) goal is to get
out of Iraq. The Republican goal is to win in Iraq."
Bullhorn politics.
Flaming world, smoke spewing souls.
Prosecute. The Word.
With few exceptions, the
media is a "bully" bullhorn for the lies and deceit spewed
from this administration, no matter how many innocent lives it costs.
WMD in Iraq? You betcha. Osama Bin Laden is Saddam Hussein's bitch?
Sure thing. Don't ask questions about what really happened on 9-11 --
No way. Forget Abu Ghraib -- the six or seven bad apples were brought
to justice -- No problem. Don't humanize anybody getting slaughtered
in Iraq; 655,000 or 30,000 -- what's the difference? They're dying because
they want to be free, just like we are. If you gotta call 'em something,
call them "insurgents" and call us "troops." And
don't show any ugly pictures. Sir, Yes Sir!
They are desperate. The John
Kerry fiasco last week is a shining example of just how down and dirty
they're willing to go. In a botched one-liner, Kerry told a group of
students, "...if you make the most of it, you study hard and you
do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well.
If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."
Although they all knew at
the outset that Kerry was taking a jab at Bush for getting "us"
stuck in Iraq, which is what his prepared comments said, the networks,
cables, right-wing radio, Internet websites, and even some Democrats,
hopped on Kerry like chickens on a June Bug. "Kerry insulted the
troops!" they shrieked, "leaving out that word broke the morale
of 158,000 troops! The troops are doomed -- and all because of John
Kerry!"
Perhaps to avoid insulting
the troops, Kerry should have said -- "As you know, you go to war
with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have
at a later time." Or maybe he should have sneered at the 11 million
Americans drafted during Vietnam as "draftees who added no value,
no advantage, really, to the United States armed services over any sustained
period of time, because the churning that took place, it took enormous
amount of effort in terms of training, and then they were gone."
Is it not an insult to the
"troops" for the media to hide the return of the wounded,
maimed -- the slain? Dead or alive, all are heroes. Where are the grateful
masses who should be giving each one a hero's welcome?
Having worked for the Army
for 30 years, each day both a challenge and a delight, I can assure
you the greatest insult to the "troops" is to have Commander-in-Chief
Bush hide them from view, refuse to attend a single funeral of those
he sent to their deaths on the basis of filthy lies, and then stomp
around on the hallowed ground of Arlington National Cemetery for 15
minutes a year while telling a pre-selected partisan crowd how he "grieves
'n mourns" for those who "died for a noble cause."
Screw him. And his little
lapdog media, too. A media which was out to lunch on Oct. 10 when insurgents
fired mortars and rockets into Forward Base Falcon where huge stores
of ammunition, fuel, weapons, tanks and other vehicles were stored.
The base erupted with immense explosions and huge fires that raged throughout
the night, and could be seen for miles. Other than being used briefly
as a backdrop during the intial report of the "incident,"
the fires and coverage of the deadliest Iraq disaster thus far disappeared
from our view.
This is a huge story, reported
by foreign media and throughout the Internet; yet, no US media dared
touch it. No media dared report less than a month before the elections
that more than 300 Americans were killed and 165 wounded, or that the
bulk of US ammunition, equipment and supplies had been destroyed in
one fell swoop. Photos of a convoy of large planes with Red Cross markings
taking the dead and wounded to the U.S. military hospital at al-Habaniyah
was more than American voters could take, and would give the terrorists
a win...
Lost. Wide-eyed.
Silent. Crouching in the far corner
Waiting for The Word.
October was a bitch, the
fourth deadliest month of the war, with the official count of slain
"troops" at 109. Even pro-war New York Senator Hillary Clinton
was relieved that it was finally over. Before launching into the politics
of the war, Clinton remarked on Nov. l -- “In human terms, this
has been a horrible month.” November is also off to a grisly start,
if you consider it in human terms, with 18 US deaths recorded in the
first six days. . .
Some Americans turn off the
media at the end of the day and drift off to sleep, secure in the knowledge
that things are boffo in Iraq -- getting better day by day. The rest
of us jerk the cords from our computers and pace the floor in anguished
frustration, bruised by the knowledge that America's sons and daughters
are being blown to bits, felled by snipers' bullets at that very moment.
Perhaps that is because the only sane way to look at a war is in human
terms...
We are awake now, and we
must never forget what George Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Michael
Ledeen, Michael Chertoff, John Negroponte, and so many other players
and pundits, with the help of the corporate media and the entire Republican
congress, have done, all of which is miniscule compared to what they
plan to do if left unchecked. Never in our 230-year history has this
nation been in such peril.
We know America was founded
with a foreordained mission to protect personal liberty and freedom
and basic inalienable rights of its citizens. We know that the unelected
George Bush despises the US Constitution, has called it just a "G**damn
piece of paper," and has granted himself the power to take away
our freedoms protected by that piece of paper. Bush is the Decider --
the Commander in Chief -- and he can do whatever he damn well pleases
to whomever he damn well pleases, whenever he damn well pleases..
And he can do this -- because
we let him.
Lips fixed to ear. Yo.
Is anybody in there?
I need The Word. Damn.
We know we are all that stand between George Bush and the ransacking
of this great nation -- affordable medicines and health care for senior
citizens, the future of Social Security and Medicare, the environment,
corporate reforms, a spiriling deficit, jobs... We are the only ones
who can prevent further deregulation of business, who can prevent our
domestic policies being manipulated in favor of corporations and the
wealthy. We must not wake up the day after the elections and realize
-- too late -- that we failed to vote when "Democracy" was
the single most important issue on the ballot.
We must not allow our glorious
Flag to become our funeral shroud by cynically refusing to vote. We
must not give the jackals in the White House carte blanche to establish
martial "order" or to destroy our freedoms -- our way of life.
Sure, we're going to have problems at the polls. The Republicans learned
a trick in Florida in 2000; it worked for them in 2002 and again in
2004, and they're determined to repeat it in 2006 and 2008 in every
state across this country. They know the only way they can win is to
convince Democrats that their vote is useless. They know they cannot
fix enough e-voting machines to counter a massive wave of Democratic
voters.
According to investigative
reporter, Greg Palast, that's what it's going to take. Palast's investigation
reveals that Republican operatives will succeed in suppressing or tossing
out about 4.5-million votes, or 5 percent of those cast for Democratic
candidates. Palast says, "get over it," and go for a winning
55 percent rather than the 51 percent it should take to legally win
an election.
We have awakened to 2,125
days of hopelessness and despair. It's time to put a stop to this madness.
We have reached the "end of the day." When we open our eyes
on November 8, our first thought will be -- this is the first day of
the best years of our lives. Because the word we have sought for so
long is Victory.
Finally -- the feast.
Munching, crunching, savoring.
The Word -- VICTORY!
_______________
**A series of my heartfelt haiku pleadings with SF Chronicle's peerless
Mark Morford to reinstate his "Daily Word" wherein he gave
definitions of words as well as a "usage example,"which featured
the frighteningly fantastic foibles of Lynne Cheney. An example...
"== THE DAILY WORD ==
It's almost like learning something
conenose \'kon-'noz\ noun
(ca. 1891) Any of various large blood-sucking bugs and esp. some assassin
bugs (genus Triatoma) including some capable of inflicting painful bites.
Usage example: Like a drunken
swarm of teething screeching winged conenose did the GOP swoop into
power as their hordes of bored, rich, old white men ripped off their
shirts and smeared war paint on their boil-crusted chests and proceeded
to dance on the hopes and dreams and peace-craving souls of millions
of misguided citizens, as Lynne Cheney twitched and giggled in horrific
ecstacy."
______________
Sheila Samples is an Oklahoma writer and a former civilian US Army Public
Information Officer. She is a regular contributor for a variety of Internet
sites. Contact her at: [email protected].
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