The Savage Carnival

[Guest guest]

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/032805A.shtml

 

The Savage Carnival

By John Cory

t r u t h o u t | Perspective

 

Monday 28 March 2005

 

America has become a savage carnival of freak show religiosity and

circus clown politics.

 

Let's call them what they are: Ghoulish Obscene Panderers. How

else to describe Tom Delay and Bill Frist, et al., as they crawl into

bed with a brain-dead woman to pose for a political Polaroid?

 

If Bill Frist is the paragon of compassionate-conservative

medicine in this country, it is no wonder the GOP wants to do away

with trial lawyers and medical malpractice awards. I mean, if Dr.

Frist can diagnose via video, surely we can all be diagnosed and

healed by touching the magic screens of our televisions, powered by

the celebrated and all knowing all-powerful Dr. Oz and his

media-evangelists, cured through Our Lady of the Sacred Cable

Cathedral and the Holy Order of St. Arbitron, all included in our

monthly satellite and cable subscription fees. Better than national

healthcare. God is good.

 

And while the circus of life unfolds before us, notice how no one

acknowledges the rampage of giant pink elephants. The media, like a

good Ring Master, barks and waves, diverting our attention to the

death-defying trapeze artists, the bearded lady, the two-headed boy,

and the miniature fire engine loaded with seltzer-spraying pundits

fresh from clown college. Modern journalism under the Big Top.

 

No one wants you to see what just happened. They hide the fact

that Congress passed legislation that 80 percent of America thinks is

wrong and invasive, that Congress passed this act with only a minimum

of congressional and senate membership present, which should scare the

living bejeebers out of all of us. What about separation of powers?

GOP is the power. What about the rule of law? Only the GOP makes the

law. Constitution? Just another dead document. What about activist

courts and judges? The GOP will tell you when activism is good and

when the evil liberals do bad activism, and never mind the difference!

 

Wake up America! The Republic is dead. Welcome to the United

States of Jesus, sponsored by the GOP Gospel Hour Medicine Show.

 

It's all a cheap savage carnival on the midway of mendacity. If

you want to know these people's moral values, look no further than

their pocketbook. And remember, George Bush says their money is our

money. Our values are their values.

 

For every $1 we spend on education in this country, we spend $6 on

the defense industry. Are we really six times more dedicated to

killing than educating?

 

While Congressional Christian Conservatives fight to keep a

brain-dead woman alive, they cut millions and millions of dollars of

VA Healthcare for the treatment of brain-injured soldiers returning

from the Iraq war, as well as dozens of programs intended to help the

wounded veterans and their families. Why are they so eager to bury the

living while digging up the dead for political fundraising?

 

Helping the poor and homeless is called " entitlements, " while tax

cuts for the wealthy and tax-subsidies for corporations are considered

the " America way. " Sort of like saying that kicking people while they

are down is the best way to get a good shoe shine.

 

They fight to keep a brain-dead woman alive while allowing our

youngsters easier access to guns than to mental healthcare. But hey,

it's only ten little Indians in Red Lake, and besides, Terri Schiavo

is a true American.

 

And like that old adage, " follow the money, " if you watch the

deposits and withdrawals of our moral leadership, you'll see exactly

where their values are, and in turn, why they couldn't care less about

your values. Because it is not about values, it is about power and

winning and ruling. Values are like congressional ethics, flexible

moral standards based on convenience and financial contribution. How

else to explain Democratic support of the vile and onerous bankruptcy

legislation? I guess it's true that a conservative Democrat is just a

Republican in cheap clothing.

 

These folks hold the Constitution as irrelevant and Catechisms as

the only key to America's greatness. They want the Ten Commandments in

all public buildings and the 12 Apostles in Congress. They want the

Virgin Mary to teach sex education, and they believe in the Holy

Trinity of Bush the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Rove.

 

Money is free speech for those who can afford it, while " silence

is golden " applies to the middle class and working poor.

 

So here we are, in a nation that claims to value the sanctity of

life above all else - even as Justice Scalia bemoans no longer being

able to put teenagers to death - but content with enforcing capital

punishment on mentally retarded prisoners.

 

It's a freak show, folks. For one thin dime, one tenth of a

dollar, you can dance with Christian cannibals while being baptized in

the healing waters of the Potomac and witness the second coming of

GOP's chosen children - them that's got.

 

It is a savage carnival that fights to keep a brain-dead woman

alive, while pulling the plug on democracy and the Constitution.

 

John Cory is a Vietnam veteran. He received the Purple Heart and

Bronze Star with V device, 1969 - 1970.

 

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