And he said unto his disciples...
Heed well these words, for they will allow you to snatch victory from the very jaws of defeat.
Study your enemy. Discern that which would be his greatest weapon, make it your own and strike first with the force of a thousand tongues. For surely as you have wielded his own weapon against him -- as you strike with that very thing which threatens you most -- you break its power; you render it mute, and feeble.
Fascism. Oh surely you knew this was coming. You must have.
For two dozen months or more, every other word we've breathed about this administration, whispered amongst ourselves or howled at the rafters has coiled into a stinking cloud that wreathed the capital grounds, there to be snatched from the air by this administration's minister of disinformation and deception.
Fascists. Jack-booted thugs.
And what has he wrought? A new ruse -- a new meme to be mouthed ad naseum by every sinister government minister -- and that is this: Let's steal this weapon, this black cloud that is fascism, and make it our own! Let's bend it and twist it and turn it turn our ends. Let us be the glorious opposition to Islamofascists! Let our political enemies be the appeasers, isolationists, those who lack the courage of their convictions, who deceive themselves into a state of terrible moral confusion.
Liars. Deceivers. Blasphemers.
After all, it worked with religion, didn't it? Brandish a cross as a weapon and make yourself a mantle of the flag. Declare yourself a moral authority. Dress the victims -- those who wore business suits, and those who wore uniforms -- instead in the robes of martyrs. We are the righteous aginst the godless! We lead a glorious clash of civilizations; a battle for end-times! We will usher in the rapture!
Shameless. Remorseless. Pitiless.
And the profit! Oh, there's treasure to be made when we ratchet up that war machine. There's a killing to be made in killing. It's a new alchemy: transforming blood and oil into gold. They brought the war to us! They -- all of them -- they're different and strange. Be afraid! Be very afraid!
So what will be the next refrain? The next chapter in the Gospel of Rove? Oh! there's so much to choose from...
Will it be rigged elections? Why we only want to be sure every rightful vote is counted, that's why we want computerized voting and voter IDs!
How about the environment? We care deeply about the environment, and that's why we have decided to allow clear-cutting of old-growth forests... those trees exhale vast amounts of CO2, you know.
Maybe the Katrina aftermath? We're trying desperately to incent reinvestment in the Gulf Coast... that's precisely what these Casino and Oil Company subsidies are intended to do. It'll create jobs, you know.