[Peace-discuss] Text [& subtext]

[E. Wayne Johnson]

...you do strike at the root.

/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?] /

C. G. Estabrook wrote:
> ========================================
> The Inaugural Address: the Digested Read
> ========================================
>
> 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?...]
>
>
> ============================
> The Digested Read, Digested:
> ============================
>
> We're going to keep killing people, and that's OK.
>
>     ###
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