Bob Dylan's "Nothing Was Delivered", Bush, and American gullibility

Dylan's "Nothing Was Delivered" is a song about a townsfolk confronting a con-man after they discovered that they had been swindled. The townspeople depicted are extraordinarily polite, but the threat of severe retribution is clearly implied.
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Nothing was delivered
And I tell this truth to you,
Not out of spite or anger
But simply because it's true.
Now, I hope you won't object to this,
Giving back all of what you owe,
The fewer words you have to waste on this,
The sooner you can go.

Nothing is better, nothing is best,
Take heed of this and get plenty of rest.

Nothing was delivered
But I can't say I sympathize
With what your fate is going to be,
Yes, for telling all those lies.
Now you must provide some answers
For what you sell has not been received,
And the sooner you come up with them,
The sooner you can leave.

Nothing is better, nothing is best,
Take heed of this and get plenty rest.

(Now you know)
Nothing was delivered
And it's up to you to say
Just what you had in mind
When you made ev'rybody pay.
No, nothing was delivered,
Yes, 'n' someone must explain
That as long as it takes to do this
Then that's how long that you'll remain.

Nothing is better, nothing is best,
Take heed of this and get plenty rest.


Copyright © 1968; renewed 1996 Dwarf Music
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Thirty, forty years ago, this is how people would have responded to Bush's lies and deceptions. But today, in pockets of the country that used to contain such Americans, everything is reversed. The rural red states contain a majority of people who have become completely gullible; the minority in those states can only wonder what's become of their neighbors. What the heck has happened?