Mission Accomplished: 'Operation Exploitation'

It's an election year and not just any election year. The GOP is under siege. Well… sort of. Their figurehead leader is facing historic levels of unpopularity. "Bush's brain"–"the architect"–Karl Rove, is possibly facing a federal indictment while others close by, such as top-shelf neocon and former attorney for Bill Clinton's pal Marc Rich, I. Lewis Libby, are also in the hot seat. Scandal after scandal of illegal influence-peddling accrues around their administration. No less than Richard Vigurie, US conservative patriarch, is calling for a Republican mutiny. Oh, and as an afterthought, for anyone who cares to notice, the Constitution is being eviscerated (but that's a strictly bipartisan affair–no matter how much a few maverick Dems may oscillate and cluck in empty gestures of tepid opposition). It's only just now being conceded in the news media that the Democratic Party–hoo-hah–may have a chance of winning back Congress in the fall. Good for them. On the sidelines of this old Coke vs Pepsi debate, Pepsi's loyal fans peek out of their windows and cling to their curtains in desperate suspense, hoping against hope that a decisive majority shall defect and "take the Pepsi challenge." Occasionally they shuffle their feet and mutter, "but what are they doing?! How come they aren't doing anything yet? Why are they letting Bush get away with all this stuff? Look at what they did to Clinton. Why is Hillary sucking up to Rupert Murdoch?" Last week House Judiciary Committee ranking Democrat John Conyers swore up and down in an op-ed in the Washington Post that he would not seek Bush's impeachment come what may in November, as did Nancy Pelosi. Some Pepsi "true believer" friends of mine suggest that these were orchestrated lies–a nudge and a wink to their fans–almost laudable, they suggest, for their savvy coyness. For they know that revenge is a dish best served cold and that these proven Democratic masters of calculus are just holding their cards for the big, post-election royal flush. The increasing frequency and temperature of this sort of cognitive dissonance logic is easily more predictable and reliable than the changing of the seasons as election day gets closer and closer. I call it: Pull a Lever Then Quickly Return to Your Armchair for Another Few Years Syndrome. The symptoms are deadly, as the people of Iraq will quickly attest. It's little less than half a year until election day. By Iraqi time, that's a long ways off to hold one's cards for a bluff out of political convenience. Oh, but wait, the Democrats said they wanted to send more troops to the Gulf, not less. Oh, yeah, that's right. John "Stalk and Kill the Terrorists" Kerry. Anybody But Bush. Yeah… we remember all of that savvy and coy political élan– that dazzling display of tactical and strategic brilliance, don't we? How could we possibly forget? Into this heady mix the GOP tosses out their election year wedge issue to bring their constituents back in line. Last time it was homophobia. This year's political chew-toy is racism and economic insecurity being played against immigration and both parties are all too willing to get the public's attention away from war, oil prices and civil liberties. Its the old tried and true divide and rule tactic of economics and lower level class warfare. Let's be clear here: The immigration issue must be strictly understood as an effort to confuse, distract and divide the underclasses by preying on their economic and racial insecurities to get their constituents in line for November while the elite pass another PERMANENT tax cut for themselves. Don't be a sucker and think that it's anything else. Many a sympathetic liberal and radical who like to go wherever the action is at insist that immigration is THE civil rights issue of the moment, and I would agree. "The moment," however, is the key operating phrase here. I have an old friend I introduced to the Green Party awhile back named Jason West. Jay made his 15 minutes of fame about two years ago when as mayor of this tiny village in upstate New York he became the first in the state to marry gay couples. Jay would often tell reporters that gay marriage is "THE civil rights issue" of his "generation." All of this culminated in Jay getting named one of People Magazine's 50 Hottest Bachelors in the US that year; it gave a little bit more visibility to the issue and a referendum on thirteen state ballots which ultimately tipped the election to your friend and mine, George W. Bush. Two years later, who remembers Jason West and where is gay marriage on the national radar? There are some marginally vocal statewide initiatives and an occasional local rally in which competing camps of righteous indignation almost resemble an amateur wrestling league exhibition at a county fair. Homophobia's greater political utility has expired for the moment... but rest assured, this social scythe is scheduled to be redeployed any day now. But today we've got a bogeymen minority more powerful than gays to exploit in these desperate times to motivate our political base to remind them who has got their backs against the wetbacks. And these folks know exploitation. Yep, you guessed it–IMMIGRANTS!! Scary-scary! All you middle class and poor, racist people–step right up. Hell, all you other folks, have a march, see if we care. We don't do focus groups, remember? These people can't vote–no real risk there–and besides, this issue is way more important than any White House scandal, wiretapping or war. Obviously–look at all those people out there in the streets. This is a crisis of Katrina-like proportions that demands our collective national attention like no other. Yeah, have your marches and we'll get those reporters out of the White House so poor Bush and his friends can take a breather and enjoy a good spin or two while they debrief the FOX guy and give the beleaguered ventriloquist dummy an overdue makeover as a consensus-seeking moderate who's not afraid to act tough in any case. You can even have anarchists out there in the streets, waving, of all things, the flag of nationalism and citizenship for a momentary fix of feel-good solidarity at the precise moment the foundations of the republic–the Constitution and Bill of Rights–are being destroyed from within. They must be saying, "Damn, we're good!" You know what? We'll even militarize the border. That ought to get your attention, as well as appeal to all of those salt-of-the-earth types we've got scared to death about the invading hordes of well-funded Mexican suicide bombers who've been stopping at nothing to detonate at the doors of suburban homes and trailer parks everywhere across the country. Because if they can't take your life, then you can be sure as shit that they will take your job! Welcome to this year's special xenophobic episode of "Fear Factor" played out, writ large, on our national television screen. There is a tendency to confuse the flavor of the month for the larger struggle, all the while being manipulated for the cynical, short-term gains of a political elite by exploiting white alienation, insecurity and narcissism. This is the technique and it works for "either side." But for the sake of appearances, let's say the Dems take Congress. What then? Will they stop the "terror war" that none of us voted for? Will they rescind their signatures from the PATRIOT Act, which effectively tore up the Fourth Amendment? Will they suddenly find their collective voice to condemn and convict Gen. Hayden for committing treason by spying on the US public in a way that would make the KGB blush? Not likely: A majority of Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee just recommended his confirmation to be CIA chief. Will the Project For A New American Century of expansionism in the Middle East be stopped in its tracks? Not a chance. Three years after that banner dropped behind Bush as he strutted across the USS Abraham Lincoln, his critics still waste no chance to point out that "Mission Accomplished" was anything but. They are wrong. Understandably, they are merely confused about the mission. Left out of the national conversation about the Iraq invasion was one of it's main strategic goals: permanent military bases, of which there are fourteen currently under construction. Meanwhile, the US has all but abandoned rebuilding Iraq's infrastructure which it had destroyed while looting their treasury so Pelosi's contracting husband could finance his new mansion. All of this talk about a new "unity government" vs civil war in Iraq is fatuous public relations nonsense. Divide and conquer, after all, is as useful in Iraq as it is in the US. Keep the rabble fighting amongst themselves while the players on the national stage prostitute the farcical drama of "democratic" governance to broadcast an illusion of power and control which they struggle in vain to maintain and monopolize how it is distributed. Meanwhile, to their paymasters go the spoils. Dick Cheney wasn't kidding about a "cakewalk" in Iraq. Halliburton's piece of cake is just as tasty in Laredo, TX, as it is in Basra. With public opinion overwhelmingly against the war, and the Republican party so prone, one might think the Dems would seize the debate. But the US antiwar movement has largely degenerated into annual "peace-of-mind" rallies–a holiday, not unlike Earth Day. You remember Earth Day, right? The day that single-handedly saved the planet long ago? While you were throwing your Frisbee against war and releasing a bird from captivity into the air for symbolic pleasure, dozens more sectarian death squad victims were discovered in Baghdad. Movements shall be historically judged by their tactical efficacy, not guilt-assuaging lip service. But back to the Dems' crushing victory: once again, as if history had vanished, Pepsi's loyal consumers will ask: "Why are they still not doing anything? What's the matter with them?" If we're not rocking the boat, why should we expect them to? They're just being "Americans Idols" like everyone else, looking out for number one, worrying about their jobs and careers and oh, so particular lifestyles, just like you or me–rather than engaging in a mass revolt against our government, which is the only sufficient response to the historic challenges we face. Really, what good are rights and causes if there are no people or there is no planet to claim them? Stay tuned. Coming up next: banning abortions–which side are you on?