"Remember, Remember the 2nd of November, Gun-toters, Tea-baggers and Plot."

Cirque de Folly: Election Time USA!

Tea party candidates accused of having links to criminal biker gangs, as pundits scream about patriotism and freedom.
Cliff Schecter: Nov 02 2010


"Remember, remember the 2nd of November, gun-toters, tea-baggers and plot." - Why yes, to answer your query, this is my very own version of the infamous Guy Fawkes poem, based on the actions of either the traitorous criminal of British lore, or a liberty-loving patriot if one accepts the raison d’etre of the film V For Vendetta.

Meanwhile, the plotters I refer to in my little ditty are the ones whose dreams of "liberty" mean bringing America’s political progress to a stunning halt on election day—the curb-stomping base of a brave new and neurotic Tea-Party GOP, who lack the constitution to actually support what’s in the Constitution. Lets also not forget the ghosts of Strom Thurmond, played on C-SPAN and at your local White…I mean Conservative Citizens Council meeting by the bilious Blue Dog Democrats. And the starring role in this circus of the demented, of course, is reserved for their benefactors, those wonderful and wily plutocrats, who buy and sell politicians like a bevy of free-basing Vito Corleones.

That is what we have to look forward to on November the 2nd, when the circus actually reaches town. When some of the cross-eyed lunatics who look like they’re about to gain higher office in the United States inevitably do, one can see us looking back on this date—while staring into a candle and chanting "The Horror".

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The bigger danger is how these newly elected "public servants” will effect what is politically acceptable, with their bigger mics and a whiff of, dare I say, the Establishment bestowed upon them post-victory. Will they be able to make their platform provided by Pinhead seem mainstream, from a good leeching to lower your fever to the ongoing search for half-humans, half-monkeys to prove that evolution did not in fact not occur? In the latter case, by the way, I really do believe a close genetic study of Steve Tyler is warranted. But, to return to the point: Italian Marxist Antionio Gramschi famously said "he who changes the culture changes the politics". So we’d all do well to pay attention, and if possible participate, in the ever-shifting conventional wisdom and underlying assumptions that animate our political culture. Because if we don’t, even if Sarah Palin’s newly elected short-bus stepchildren can’t pass legislation, they can change the conversation with their constant blather. Which if repeated enough will grow in size and power, much like a hungry Puma or Rush Limbaugh’s head.

Full article: http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/spotlight/usmidtermelections2010/2010/10/20101031201944594227.html

(Cliff Schecter is the President of Libertas, LLC, a progressive public relations firm, the author of the 2008 bestseller The Real McCain, and a regular contributor to The Huffington Post.)