Warning or Indictment?

Upon first viewing of this pithy little video below, I thought it was wonderful. It's brief, forceful, and gets right to the point. But, therein lies the question: what is the point? Does it leave you with a feeling of disgust for the parasitic, plundering ruling class who are destroying our nation? Or does it leave you repulsed by the "barbaric" low-class, mindless, "too-stupid-to-live" animals consumers from Hell? What are the chances that any of these "barbaric" shoppers will even see this video in order to mend their ways?

Just listen to the dehumanizing, condemning rhetoric...and to whom it is aimed. It sure ain't the pompous-assed prima donnas.

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Dangerous Rhetoric May Provide Answers to the Wrong People.

John McCain poses the rhetorical question, "Who is the real Barack Obama?". Rhetorical, because Sarah Palin eagerly provides the answer...he is a terrorist! What else could Sarah Palin mean when she accuses Obama of "palling around with terrorists".

Enough's been said about Obama's supposed Muslim affinity that even "Joe six-pack" can visualize the graphic image the republicans are trying to paint. Being black isn't enough to scare the voters away any more. However, an African-American, Muslim terrorist should be enough to send all the red-blooded, patriotic, apple-pie and mom loving Americans running to fetch their six-shooter. Doggoneit!

This type of emotionally manipulative rhetoric - Sarah Palin's first and only language -

"For me, the heels are on, the gloves are off." -- Sarah Palin telling a group of Republican donors in Naples, Fla.

is dangerous at a time when society is caught up in a maelstrom of political, economic, social and technological change. People feel angry, desperate and abandoned. Confused and anxious, they search out simplistic explanations and are actively searching for someone to blame...the evildoer, who is responsible for causing their pain. Nine times out of ten, a scapegoat is targeted instead, and nine times out of ten, that scapegoat is of a different race religion, sexuality etc.

While this type of rhetoric will not cause anyone to make an attempt on Obama's life, it certainly could provide the final justification. After years of listening to "evildoers", "axis of evil", "you're either with us or against us" and "we can either fight the terrorists here or over there", is there anything worse than a terrorist? Is there anything worse than a Muslim? Is there anything worse than a black man running for President of the United States?

At a rally Monday in Albuquerque, when McCain asked, "Who is the real Barack Obama?" one supporter yelled back, "Terrorist!" Across the country in Florida that day, Palin's criticism of Obama and Ayers drew resounding boos and prompted one person, according to the Washington Post, to shout out, "Kill him!"

Who is the real John McCain? I've asked myself that many times. No, not because I think he is a terrorist, far from it...however, John McCain, the "Maverick" the man we knew at the beginning of the decade disappeared completely. The John McCain running for President, although he looks the same and sounds the same, is not the same.

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Simple Rhetoric, Taking Charge,

Sometimes it is.
Normally, profound ignorance is the result of black and white thinking. "Liberals" attack ambiguity and uncertainty with their nuanced and analytical style of thinking bristling at the idea of tradition, authority and intolerance, but there are times when liberals must think and act like a "conservative" and that time is now.

Simple, blunt, polarizing "Bush-type rhetoric" should be directed toward American citizens and the Bush Administration to spread the message, loud and clear, that we will not allow the Bush Administration to destroy our Constitution. Liberals and or Democrats must manifest a commanding influence and protect the tradition our forefathers bequeathed to us, intolerant of any who threaten the checks and balances of the legislative, executive and judicial branches set up to protect us from anyone or anything that might encroach upon our freedoms. And lastly, Democrats must take back the authority that rightly belongs to "we the people" in order to preserve liberty and justice for all.

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Rhetoric

As the LA Times points out there have been more than 245,000 deaths due to traffic accidents in the United States alone since 9/11, yet there are no alarms, no wars...no response of any kind.

"A few days ago, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced that 42,642 Americans died in traffic in 2006. Did you hear this reported anywhere?"

"Road Kill" is a not just problem we face in this country but a global one as well. This is the first time in history that statistics show death by traffic accident surpasses death by mortal combat. It's nice to know that our world is becoming more "civilized" but the opposite appears to be true because of the attention the media gives "mortal combat" and the "rhetoric" our politicians continue to use such as "war on terror".

Three simple words, "war on terror" have caused more terror, globally, than they have prevented since 9/11. People focus in on these simple words because it feels much better to combat a force that we feel we are not responsible than rhetoric that may be less black and white, more complex; words that focuses our attention on ourselves; words that force us to take some responsibility for the problem at hand such as the way we choose to transport ourselves.

Politicians carefully choose their words making sure they divert our attention away from issues such as the automobile industry's relationship with their advertisers which may, in turn, cause the media to avoid reporting on how lethal our highways have become and toward focusing on an issue that may or may not exist, but does not have the impact of the one they're directing our attention away.

"This political language has created a frame that is not accurate and that Bush and his gang have used to justify anything they want to do," Edwards said in a phone interview from Everett, Wash. "It's been used to justify a whole series of things that are not justifiable, ranging from the war in Iraq, to torture, to violation of the civil liberties of Americans, to illegal spying on Americans. Anyone who speaks out against these things is treated as unpatriotic. I also think it suggests that there's a fixed enemy that we can defeat with just a military campaign. I just don't think that's true."-- John Edwards

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