Voter Ignorance Appears Infinite

May 7, 2003
CONTRIBUTOR ARCHIVES
Wrap It In The Flag

A BUZZFLASH READER COMMENTARY
by Bill Chickering

George W. Bush has a simple public relations plan.

First, box up all the lies, the disdain for working Americans, and the sneering
contempt for anything or anyone who is not utterly white, utterly straight, and utterly
Christian. Speak of freedom abroad while you strip it away at home. Rule your country
by executive fiat rather than the consent of the governed.

Second, appeal to people's most base prejudices and fears. Tell them that the threat
from unseen enemies is imminent, and permanent.

Third, fabricate a war and send America's finest young men and women to do what
you would not do -- fight for your country.

Fourth, alter the tax code to elevate those at your economic level and step on the neck
of those who pay the nation's bills.

Take all of this -- the unending lie, the attitude of a bully taunting little kids while his
rich daddy stands behind him, and the gun you'll put to the head of anyone who
crosses you.

Then wrap it all in the American flag.

Wear that flag on your lapel. Make sure it's waving close by whenever you stand at
another microphone and lie straight faced to a room full of people who believe they
can trust you.

Always make sure that the flag is the message. Don't give people time to think about
the nation you're leading to chaos and economic collapse.

Don't let people know that while you speak longingly of God, you espouse repressive
religious bigotry and seek freedom of religious expression for the Christian right and
them alone.

Don't give people the chance to think. Keep them busy with symbols and religious
bromides and non-stop incessant blather about how God loves us above all other
nations.

Continue to talk of patriotism and sacrifice (not your sacrifice, of course, but theirs)
long enough and pretty soon people may even believe that the loss of their job was a
patriotic act.

The greatest threat to George W. Bush is not the soft and spineless Democratic Party.
It's a populace that may one day decide to wake up. It's a populace that one morning
may look at his juvenile sneer, the flag on his lapel, and their own empty economic
future, and utter the one word that brings them back to their senses.

"Bullshit!"

Bill Chickering
White Bear Lake, MN

A BUZZFLASH READER COMMENTARY