It's not even lunch on State of the Union Day, and I have seen more than enough from those who would "boycott" the speech, or even crazier, suggest Members of Congress walk out.
It should be the duty of all sentient Members of Congress to shout down every craven utterance emanating from the podium tonight. And it should be the duty of every Kossack to watch every minute of OUR PRESIDENT, GEORGE W. BUSH, delivering his SIXTH State of the Union message. Every. Single. Minute. Sober.
Let it burn in your gut.
Stare straight down the barrel at three more years of this shit. Rub your nose in the flickering glow.
Think of all the war dead and maimed, their families, friends and colleagues. Recall the parade of lies that led America into a catastrophic strategic blunder that has only enhanced the threat of Al Qaeda, here and abroad.
Think of losing the Supreme Court this morning to a two-decade-long campaign bent on placing hard-line activist conservatives in control of our birthrights. Think of how that Court will allow the further subversion of the Constitution undertaken by this president, particularly when another attack arrives on our soil due to their gross incompetence. Think of officially sanctioned torture, imprisoned Americans denied the right to trial, and a system of international gulags, now all ascribed to YOUR NATIONALITY.
Think of the melting polar ice caps, denuded forests, and five years of tax-credited CO2 expulsion, and remember the silenced scientific community trying to deliver you peer-reviewed facts to save the planet's ecological balance. If it helps you, think of Andrei Sakharov. In Gorky.
Consider the swelling rolls of medically uninsured family members and neighbors, racing past the 40 million mark. Think of the lifelong debt incurred by the fortunate and dedicated 25 percent of young Americans able to gain acceptance to college. Ask yourself why Head Start can't afford to serve two-thirds of our eligible toddlers and preschoolers while Exxon/Mobil earns $38 billion in PROFIT in 2005 without having paid a dime of punitive damages for the 1989 Exxon/Valdez oil spill.
Embrace an American standard of living already less than half that of 1975 and collapsing in on itself, and fess up to the consequent lowest personal savings rate since the ebb of the Great Depression. Now take stock of your future in this moment of record federal budget deficits, five years removed from a record federal budget surplus.
Tonight, stare straight into the eyes of YOUR PRESIDENT, YOUR VICE PRESIDENT, and YOUR HOUSE SPEAKER -- three deeply corrupt, deeply privileged, deeply deceitful white men -- and realize that if we impeached every single one of them today for the deserving crimes they have already committed, we would have President Ted Stevens until January 2009.
You, Kossack, represent the front line against a juggernaut of aspiring tyrants, who bring you a uniquely American form of subjugation -- that of the world's richest and most weaponized nation, with still-untapped financial, informational, and military resources -- to cement their illicit privileges at the express price of your life, your liberty, and your pursuit of happiness.
Don't miss a publicly proffered defense of the indefensible from the Happy Perpetrator himself. Not only is he likely to confess more crimes, but your next available update may come less desirably in the form of a subpoena, an audit, or an invalid airline ticket.
Look away from the State of the Union if you dare. But when you are ground face-first into the mud, the tank that snuffed you out will roll on undiverted toward your loved ones, your neighbors and your fellow citizens. Just as the drivers would have it.
See you at 9 Eastern, 8 Central, 7 Mountain, 6 Pacific, 5 Alaskan, and 4 Hawaiian Standard Time.