There absolutely was fraud in this election. And after it, too. And it's still happening, right fricking now. I'm not talking about stolen votes-- we'll see about that-- I'm talking about the unbelievably canny sleight of hand that's being pulled by this administration and has been bought into by virtually every major media company.
While we chatter endlessly away about why we lost, whether Canada is really that cold or whether the Bush Administration will put Jesus or Mel Gibson on the ten dollar bill, they are working diligently on their ultimate agenda. And it's got nothing to do with Janet Jackson's overinflated tit.
They want you to believe that "moral values" was the dealbreaker in this election. They want you to believe-- and fear-- the power of the evangelical right.
If you're an evangelical, you feel empowered and are ready to ratchet up your rhetoric and follow your Christian brother St. George into battle against the activist judges and their godless legions of latte.
If you're a progressive, you are frightened beyond all reason at the prospects of living in a backwards thinking bizarro country run by Bob Jones and his McTaliban. They want you to believe this is an epic life or death struggle between faith and reason with nothing less the fate of the Republic at hand. They want you to believe this because it's great, juicy, captivating drama.
But it isn't the real story. It is the cover story. The real story is pretty goddamn boring. It'd never sell papers or sound good coming out of Candy Crowley's pork chop stained lips. Jon Stewart couldn't make this story funny. In fact, it's so goddamn boring that I almost want to keep telling you about the cover story. But I'm a trooper so here goes...
The real story is about money. Specifically how the mega rich keep more of theirs, most likely at the expense of you keeping more of yours. Yes, my people, the real story is about taxes. Yawn. Stretch. Open up those other emails in your Inbox. Get a drink of water. Fart. Take the dog for a walk. Think about how awesome that Red Sox comeback was. I'm with you, believe me...
Taxes. What a goddamn boring goddamn subject. Who the hell wants to lead with that? Everybody hates taxes. Hates taxes so much they don't even like to read or hear about them unless it's accompanied by a descriptor like "no" or "lower" or "fuck". Tax reform is palatable too, but just give us the short version, okay? On second thought, you guys are the lower taxes party so just go ahead with whatever, I've got some angry letters to write to Monday Night Football about that intro where the big negro hugged a naked blonde lady. My children were watching!
Well, the super rich hate taxes too. In fact, they probably hate them more than any of us do. Why? Because they hate the idea that they can control everything in their lives except taxes. These people are spending massive amounts of money to try and conquer aging and death, why wouldn't they spend massive amounts of money trying to conquer taxes? Especially when they are expected-- at least in American mythology-- to bear more of the tax burden just because they are rich. You believe you can't avoid death or taxes, so you accept their inevitability. They think they can beat them, so they do not accept it. And they are working tirelessly to acheive their goal.
Think about it. George Bush's base is basically made up of low and moderate income religious nutjobs, low and moderate income angry white men and the absurdly super rich. Who do you think is going to influence policy decisions most? Uh huh. And who are those policies going to favor? Uh huh. But won't the nutjobs be angry when they don't get what they want? Not if their busy hating the real enemy: liberal atheists and feminists. And they will be because we will be busy hating them instead of realizing the awful truth: we are actually on the same side with our skirts up and our panties down. The real us vs. them in our country is the regular people versus the super rich people.
I haven't joined the People's Revolutionary Workers Union of Anarchy (yet). And I'm not advocating we overturn the capitalist machine. But we have to pay attention to taxes and tax law, now more than ever. We do have power and influence but only in massive numbers and if we're too busy pissing and moaning and agonizing about the supposed culture wars, we will get screwed in ways that are unfathomable to anyone who wasn't alive when Howard Taft was president.
For more information on the right's tax agenda, check out this interview with David Cay Johnston, author the book "Perfectly Legal:The Covert Campaign to Rig our Tax System to Benefit the Super Rich- and Cheat Everyone Else." Johnston implicates both parties and seems to me about as impartial and fair minded as you could be on the subject.