BigUglyWorld #9 - Flushing Out The Colin (November 16, 2004)
Band:
If this band was any more fun, I'd need some kind of surgery. I just can't say enough about how much of a great time I am having, whether it's jamming, writing new material, or playing gigs. Damn.
Me:
Hmm. Today's a bad day to ask me how things are. No less than three people today made me strongly consider kicking them in the teeth. All things considered, though, I guess I'm doing fairly well.
The World Outside:
It never rains, but it pours. There comes a point where all you can do is roll your eyes, breath deep, and let the chloroform take you away from it all.
Meat:
So Colin Powell has resigned, and the sheep are bleating away about what a brave man he is. I hear him being described as a moderate, and I can't help but laugh.
Wasn't this the guy who led the army in not one but two military actions? Isn't this the guy who stood face to face with the United Nations and told them he had physical proof that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction? Isn't this the guy who made millions when his son approved an extremely unpopular merger between AOL and Time Warner? That's not the behavior of a moderate, no matter how CNN wants us to perceive it.
So what are they up to then? If my paranoid ass is to be believed, they're going to need a motivation.
Astonishingly, the U.S. Government appear to be taking a page out of my own "leader", Paul Martin's book. I believe they're giving us a hero.
As near as I can figure, Paul Martin was just another Liberal, a lackey to then-Prime Minister Jean Chretien, whose leadership that had long since run it's course. The people were tired of a wasteful and scandal-ridden government, but that government was a long way from being tired of the people.
If this was pro-wrestling, we'd call what Martin did a "face turn", where the villain, usually by virtue of a ruthless attack is suddenly cheered by the crowd, all past wrongs forgiven. Paul was suddenly a rebel fighting against the corrupt old guard. The end result? People rallied behind the same old party banner.
So how does this silly slight-of-hand from north of the border relate to the head of the military handing in his 2 weeks' notice? Simple.
I have long believed that the Democrats chose not to run Hillary Clinton against George W. Bush to save her for later, when they wouldn't have to worry about defeating an incumbent. Essentially, they went with plan B, giving up on any real chance with this election in favor of the next one. And frankly, that seemed like a pretty smart move. So how do the Republicans retaliate?
If you want to counter the power of a highly popular woman candidate who would become the first female President of the United States, you can't pull out some Hee-Haw deep south Jesus freak on an anti-abortion tirade. You gotta pull out the big guns.
Colin Powell. He's a highly thought of minority with a proven track record. He's viewed by the public as a fairly moderate Republican. Somewhere, someone in a bad Dixiecrat suit is saying, "I can spin this..."
So Colin decides out of nowhere to quit. You point out growing issues between he and George as a cause. Certainly, while Powell has always done his job, he's also never been afraid to say what's on his mind. So he up and quits, takes a civilian job for a little while and still remains in the public eye as a staunch Republican who conflicts with the more extreme of Bush's policies that will no doubt end up crammed down our throats over the next four years.
Time marches on, and the people are ready for a new leader. Colin is suddenly extremely appealing. For one thing, he would have strong support from blacks, a demographic that largely vote democratic. But more important than that, he'll represent a still-conservative viewpoint, but everyone will remember that he's much more moderate than the psychotic they've had in office for the last four years. It gives Bush free reign to sodomize the country without really running the risk of turning power over to the Democrats in the next election.
The idea is the same whether it's Paul Martin or Colin Powell. Distract the masses enough to make them not realize they're just voting in the same bunch of crooks they had last month.
Hey, I hope I'm wrong, and I hope that Colin's just a regular cat just like you and me with his multiple millions and his capacity to order the death of thousands of faceless so-called enemies, but somehow I just don't buy the story. I've never accepted the notion that you could have a guy in charge of the army who was a moderate, especially in the midst of this warrior climate the US is in today. Hell, if I'm wrong I'll be the first to admit it, but if I'm right, I hope you try to keep in mind who it was that told you what was what.
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