Mood:
caffeinatedTopic: "Jonestown Redux" (3)
Make no mistake, Frodo is a "Bush-Basher." Frodo cannot stand to look at the smarmy smirker, much less pay attention to his whining, ideological, clap-trap. Before he goes to bed each night, Frodo gets down on his knees and prays for pustules to break out all over the body of George W. Bush so that he suffers, standing or sitting, day or night, for the remainder of his life. The damage he has done is incalculable.
There is a purpose for the preceding paragraph. Frodo is in receipt of information from an acquaintance who is deeply engrossed in the conspiracy theories surrounding the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Included in the data is the inference that the late Senator Paul Wellstone (D-MN) was "silenced" by Dick Cheney for speaking out. Barack Obama and John Edwards are cited, along with other "good liberals," as part of the "controlled dominant paradigm" who would be "toast" if they came forward and spoke against the military-industrial complex. All of this supports, so Frodo's acquaintance alleges, his contention that the events of September 11, 2001, are part of a much larger, much more insidious, cabal.
Horse hockey! With all due respect for the beliefs of others, and for the depth of their sincerity, Frodo has never believed that a Georgia Congressman was blown out of the sky in a commercial airliner by the Communist Chinese because of his political beliefs. Yet, there are countless "Conservatives" who believe that the loss of all those lives was part of some action sponsored by the United Nations, just to silence one deranged Congressman.
Dwight David Eisenhower, a Republican for the love of Pete, warned, in his Farewell Address, about the influence of big business and government. John Fitzgerald Kennedy was assassinated by a Communist sympathizer who was eliminated by a small-time hoodlum before he could be tried, and the hoodlum died from terminal cancer before anybody could figure out his motivations. How inspiring words and tragic events intersect produces a conflagration of theoretical hyperbole, garnished with a little fact and a lot of imagination.
Frodo believes that there are times when there is nothing left to do but to go to someone whom everyone trusts. There are, even in our translucent society, certain people who transcend our differences and to whom we listen, even if we don't all agree with his opinions. Frodo asks, what would Bill Bradley say? An All-American athlete, a Rhodes Scholar, a United States Senator, a Presidential candidate, an accomplished author, married to one woman; a man who represents all of the things that we all hope to represent. Does anyone truly believe that Bill Bradley could be bought off by some cabal of business ideologues, regardless of their nationality? Would Bill Bradley be involved with anyone who threatened our way of life, our great nation? Would he not speak up, would he fear any man?
It is past time to let the craziness out of our systems; from all sides. It is time to recognize that drinking the grape juice doesn't accomplish anything. We may never agree on the route to take, but we all seek the common good, however it may be defined. Frodo believes that all of us can figure that out, except of course, for the re-incarnation of George Armstrong Custer who resides at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. He, truly, is a lost cause.
