[Peace-discuss] Text [& subtext]

[C. G. Estabrook]

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The Inaugural Address: the Digested Read
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My fellow citizens:

We are in the midst of crisis.
Our nation is at war [against an Axis...oops]
against a Network of Violence and Hatred.

America's decline can be arrested,
[just so long as we can scare hell out of the American people]
because the challenges we face are real. [Really, they are.]

We need unity of purpose [to get rid of naysayers].
No more worn-out dogmas [like "no aggressive war"]
that for far too long have strangled our politics.
[Some are actually trying to stop the Mideast War.]

But we have a noble idea: [spread Freedom...oops]
that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue
their full measure of happiness [as we define it].

[One Nation, one People, and one President]
are greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.
We must begin again the work of remaking America
[in the image and likeness of the Best People.]

We'll create new jobs and lay a new foundation for growth
[by paying rich people first].
The stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply.
[This has been called elsewhere "Gleichschaltung."]

The Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine
[but we'll draw some parallels],
drafted a charter to assure the rule of law
[and of course their undisturbed possession of their wealth].

The justness of our cause
[is so obvious it can't even be discussed]...

We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people
[as split as that infinitive].
and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan,
[as mixed as that metaphor].

With old friends [Israel] and former foes [Russia],
we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat,
[of course we don't admit Israel has any nukes]
and roll back the specter of a warming planet
[because you know how dangerous those rolling specters are.]

We will not apologize for our way of life
[even though it's fucking nuts],
nor will we waver in its defense.
[You do remember the Bush Doctrine, Ms. Palin?]

And for those who seek to advance their aims
by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents,
we say to you now that our spirit is stronger;
you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you
[i.e., no one induces terror or slaughters innocents like us.]

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward,
based on mutual interest and mutual respect.
[Look how we respected those thousands of dead and wounded Gazans.]

To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict,
or blame their society's ills on the West
[How could they do THAT?!]:

Know that your people will judge you on what you can build,
not what you destroy.  [Pay no attention to Gaza, or a million
dead in Iraq; but don't plan any Afghan wedding parties.]

To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and
the silencing of dissent [Hey, what happened to the shoe-thrower?],
know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that
we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist
[and cross your palm with a little something from Gen. Petraeus].

As we consider the road that unfolds before us
[actually, I'm having trouble re-folding the Road Map],
we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans
who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains
[in spite of what the people who live there might think].

They have something to tell us today ["Bring us home!"],
just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages.
["That's an ill phrase, a vile phrase...."]

We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty
[exactly whose liberty are they guarding in the Mideast? ExxonMobil's?],
but because they embody the spirit of service;  [of course, if they don't,
we'll force them to enlist because there are no jobs...]

[Several paragraphs of absolute bilge and balderdash here,
ending with a demand for] a recognition, on the part of every American,
that we have duties to ourselves, our nation and the world
[which will be enforced in reverse order].

This is the price and the promise of citizenship.
This is the source of our confidence -- the knowledge
that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.
[And you're hearing it from The One.]

This is ... why a man whose father less than 60 years ago
might not have been served at a local restaurant
can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.
["Luo, I am your FAAATHER...."]

When the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt,
the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:
"the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet it."
["I can feel your Paine."]

With eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us,
we carried forth that great gift of Freedom
and delivered it safely to future generations.
[Freedom Lives! or is that Frodo? or Fredo?...]


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The Digested Read, Digested:
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We're going to keep killing people, and that's OK.

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