The Right to the Rest: Merry Christmas, Suckers!

I have come to the conclusion that no amount of reason or talk will convince those who are lined up in lockstep behind President Bush of anything.

The mountain of evidence of the corruption of the Republican leadership of both houses of Congress and Bush's administration continues to grow. Their disdain for the Constitution, their willingness to support profoundly unjust acts aimed at the nation's most vulnerable individuals and families, their willingness to sneak legislation underneath the radar in the dead of night and keep votes open interminably to force the strong-willed into mouse-like contrition to the leadership - and the mean-spirited unfairness of that legislation, the giveaways to their corporation sponsors...

The mountain of evidence of loathsome, sometimes illegal, anti-American, anti-family, greed-driven, secrecy-obsessed, bare-knuckled politics threatens to reach to the sun. And yet these people don't see it.

Last night, in one of the final acts of moral abomination before boarding the jet back to their home districts, the Senate approved billions of dollars in tax cuts that strip thousands of families of their bare necessities for the winter season. In my state, families have just had home-heating fuel assistance stripped out from under them. Food stamps, often the last line of defense against starvation and malnutrition for the nation's poor - stripped of millions in funding.

Virtually every program in this nation which helps the weak to survive the predations of the strong and powerful has been gutted. Meanwhile, the largesse keeps rolling in like a tsunami of generosity to those who do not need or deserve it. The tax cuts they want to make permanent. The rollback of Teddy Roosevelt's first progressive blow against the oligarchy of the robber baron elite, the inheritance tax, has been successfully spun into a "death tax" that afflicts the humble, God-fearing "American Gothic" style American farmer and causes him to lose the farm. Of course, not one such humble dirt farmer can be found. This is a concerted effort on the part of billionaires, people. Not your pappy's corn farm.

It's a great time to be an energy executive (like George and Dick), a corporate leader, a Halliburton man, or any blue-eyed devil with deep pockets, friends. The money rolls in faster than they can pocket it. The White House laughs and laughs. The zombie pundits harangue "liberals" for launching a "war on Christmas," while actual dead bodies litter the globe as the result of the Right's paranoia and cynical manipulation of fear.

A war on Christmas, honestly. As if such a thing were actually happening... meanwhile the war on the American people by their fraudulent leaders continues unabated and the large majority of Americans watch helplessly as their pensions, health benefits, collective bargaining power, life expectancies whither.

The Right wing leadership and their cronies live in the lap of luxury, forget about shared sacrifice, forget about equality and fairness. Just keep that money river flowing and the anger at a fever pitch, as long as they make sure the muzzle of rage is safely pointed at people who can't actually shoot back. 18,000 "terrorists" now under surveillance by the unchecked executive branch, the poor, who have no voice, the working poor who are too exhausted to fight. The mentally ill, the elderly.

Merry Christmas, suckers, Bush says from high on the hill. Sleep well.

Sooner or later we'll have nothing left but our feet to protest with, and our votes. I await that time, America. I'll see you in the streets.