sardine -- pre-11/07 -- get out the vote!

“This ideology helps mobilize the populace against an enemy, and because the concept is fuzzy it can be used against anybody advocating policies that threaten property interests or support accommodation with Communist states and radicalism. It therefore helps fragment the left and labor movements and serves as a political-control mechanism. If the triumph of communism is the worst imaginable result, the support of fascism abroad is justified as a lesser evil” (Herman & Chomsky, 278).

If you add the words terrorism and terrorists to the above quote, it becomes totally modernized. Watch the news and fear the terrorists and the immigrants and gay marriage and evolution. Our way of life is being attacked. Grab your gas mask and your stockpile of anti-virals and antibiotics! Duck and cover!

If you’re like me, for the past few weeks your mail box has been full of political information. The television shows mostly attack ads between programming and in programming. Which way to vote? Does it really matter – Republican or Democrat? Which is the least horrible? Is there really any difference? Or is Diebold choosing for us along with all the latest voting improvements?

We want the dichotomy of evil and good. It makes it easy to choose and to be lead to slaughter. The politicians are bought and sold. The media is bought and sold. Any information we receive is most likely propaganda. Following the money trail clarifies the issues more clearly. Who profits from our fear? And we do fear. We fear not being in style. We fear missing last night's show. We fear isolation and abandonment. We fear not having. We fear dying. We fear being one of the Others. We fear being marked as enemy.

“Ba Ba,” said one sheep to the other. “Did you vote?”