Cold and misty morning, I heard a warning borne in the air
About an age of power where no one had an hour to spare,
Where the seeds have withered, silent children shivered, in the cold
Now their faces captured in the lenses of the jackals for gold.
-- Karn Evil 9, First Impression

There was a feeling in the air of dissatisfaction, and a general malaise following the rabid attempts to unhinge the Clinton presidency.  The world was bemused -- to a point -- with our national navel-gazing.  But only to a point.  Change was in the air, but who knew which way the wind would ultimately blow?  Those with the resources to do something were busily working to flex their muscles, but it wasn't to be for the good of others.

Suffering in silence, they've all been betrayed.
They hurt them and they beat them, in a terrible way,
Praying for survival at the end of the day.
There is no compassion for those who stay.
-- Karn Evil 9, First Impression

People hoping for a better lot in life, for improving conditions and continued economic growth, felt the shift.  It wasn't comforting, as BushCo ascended to the pinnacle of Republican and neoconservative power -- the Presidency of the United States.

There must be someone who can set them free:
To take their sorrow from this odyssey
To help the helpless and the refugee
To protect what's left of humanity.
Can't you see?
-- Karn Evil 9, First Impression

George and his friends were going to become our saviours.  they just needed something -- something big -- to "announce" their arrival on the scene and present the backdrop for saving us.

I'll be there
I'll be there
I will be there;
To heal their sorrow
To beg and borrow
Fight tommorow.
-- Karn Evil 9, First Impression

Then 9/11 happened.  On their watch.  In spite of their own denials that terrorism gurus had forewarned them.

Step inside! Hello! We've the most amazing show
You'll enjoy it all we know
Step inside! Step Inside!
-- Karn Evil 9, First Impression

That was all they needed.  They leapt into action.

We've got thrills and shocks, supersonic fighting cocks.
Leave your hammers at the box
Come Inside! Come Inside!
Roll up! Roll up! Roll up!
See the show!
-- Karn Evil 9, First Impression

"Shock and Awe" was borne, as we found ourselves tricked into a war of aggression against the people who we were told were responsible for the heinous crime committed against our nation.  

A war against a nation and a people who had nothing to do with the crime committed against us.

A war that, itself, constituted a new crime committed against our nation -- this time, however, by our own leadership.

Left behind the bars, rows of Bishops' heads in jars
and a bomb inside a car
Spectacular! Spectacular!

If you follow me there's a speciality
some tears for you to see
Misery, misery,
Roll up! Roll up! Roll up!
See the show!
-- Karn Evil 9, First Impression

Clumsily at first, then with a gathering flair and panache, the GOP propaganda machinery churned out evidence of how "godless" the people we fought against were; they must be a danger, even if they had nothing to do at all with the crime for which we are punishing them.

Religion became a factor.  Blind faith and a growing rabble of our own home-grown version of the Taliban -- the "American Taliban" or Ultra-Right-Wing Conservative Christian Fundamentalists -- became a focal point in the attempts to drown out dissent and efforts to make the Administration and the associated minions accountable.

All the while, the consolidation of power consisting of single-party control of the three branches of government was leading to more blatant corruption.

Next upon the bill in our House of Vaudeville
We've a stripper in a till
What a thrill! What a thrill!
-- Karn Evil 9, First Impression

Of course, any attempts at oversight were steamrolled.  The "holier than thou" card got a lot of play in the first incarnation of this horror show.

And not content with that, with our hands behind our backs,
We pull Jesus from a hat,
Get into that! Get into that!
Roll up! Roll up! Roll up!
See the show!
-- Karn Evil 9, First Impression

It was a masterful engagement of sleight of hand amid a blinding display of smoke and mirrors.  By and large, the first term was largely a well-obscured national disaster, setting the stage for where we now find ourselves -- prisoners of our own inaction, watching criminals in action while we desperately hope that our belated calls for accountability can chip away at their vast accumulation of power.

The second term started.  It was running on a full head of steam, the majority of the nation still asleep, albeit fitfully.  You could almost hear the carnival barker calling out...

Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends
We're so glad you could attend
Come inside! Come inside!
-- Karn Evil 9, First Impression, Part II

Slowly -- very slowly -- voices began to ring out, softly at first but then growing in both intensity and fervor.  The Administration's propaganda matrix began to shift, but they still worked hard to suppress reality.

Global warming became an outright big issue, in spite of Administrative reassurances in face of international science that "there was no credible evidence" for them to consider.

There behind a glass is a real blade of grass
be careful as you pass.
Move along! Move along!
-- Karn Evil 9, First Impression, Part II

Ask Land of Enchantment about the Pombo diaries.  I think there's damn near thirty of them now.  Richard Pombo -- Knight of the GOP's anti-reality wing, environmental division.  By denying the existence of global warming, the hell-bent-for-leather rush toward opening up ANWR and the fossil-fuel-centric faux energy policy can be neatly played up.  And the debacle that is our "Mideast Policy" -- war for oil -- can be glazed over.

Come inside, the show's about to start
guaranteed to blow your head apart
Rest assured you'll get your money's worth
The greatest show in Heaven, Hell or Earth.
-- Karn Evil 9, First Impression, Part II

Escalating national debt, hidden war costs through creative budgeting, blind expenditures and waste -- what is our money worth?  $100 / barrel?  More?  Hundreds of thousands of dead "brown people" -- both here and abroad -- while the rich receive tax cuts and contractors lose billions?

The GOP spinmeisters spin faster, and the Republican majority in Congress suppresses any attempts at accountability with their own rhetorical -- and dutiful -- recitation of talking points.  The babble begins to reach a crescendo.

You've got to see the show, it's a dynamo.
You've got to see the show, it's rock and roll ....
-- Karn Evil 9, First Impression, Part II

The problem with increased focus on talking points is this: as they are struck down, proven irrelevant or demonstrated as pure and utter b.s., they get repeated and inflated to become more and more disconnected from the growing realities that have become a true threat to the continued health and security of our nation.

Right before your eyes we pull laughter from the skies
And he laughs until he cries then he dies then he dies
Come inside the shows about to start
Guaranteed to blow your head apart
-- Karn Evil 9, First Impression, Part II

Attempts by the neopundits to disparage and ridicule, then instill and incite fear, escalate accordingly as their efforts begin to fall on deaf ears.

You gotta see the show
It's a dynamo
You gotta see the show
It's rock and roll
-- Karn Evil 9, First Impression, Part II

What will it take to wake up the rest of the public?  What will it take to secure a true and lasting peace, in mind and body and spirit, within the nation and the world?  How can we bring people to their senses, and end the spell they've been put under?

Scandals surface -- Watergate II, a.k.a. Hookergate.  It actually gains some coverage.  And some criticism.  But it's not enough.  The spin cycle continues, and intensifies still.

Soon the Gypsy Queen in a glaze of Vaseline
Will perform on guillotine
What a scene! What a scene!
-- Karn Evil 9, First Impression, Part II

Reports surface -- validated and verified -- regarding the intentional manipulation of the media (both traditional and the new media that incorporates bloggers and citizen journalists).  The entertainment industry and news cycles begin to wobble, alternating between the occassional news tidbit and continued cycle of distractions.

Next upon the stand will you please extend a hand
to Alexander's Ragtime Band
Roll up! Roll up! Roll up!
See the show!
-- Karn Evil 9, First Impression, Part II

Anything to prevent a collapse of the unreality bubble.  Anything.

Performing on a stool we've a sight to make you drool
Seven virgins and a mule
Keep it cool. Keep it cool.
-- Karn Evil 9, First Impression, Part II

Who is ultimately responsible for this?

It's cheesy, and no longer completely true, that we "The People" have the responsibility for letting the nation stray so far.  Some of us have been ever-vigilant.  Some of us were distracted, but have seen through the curtain to the "thing" at the controls.  We're fighting back.  We're correcting the spin.  We're counter-spinning, spiking the Kool-Aid with reality shots to help awaken our brothers and sisters before this nation goes careening completely out of control into a tailspin from which we cannot emerge unscathed.

If we pay attention to the song, however, we'll hear it.  Accountability, responsibility and ultimately the true identity of the beast that continues to spew forth the filth that continues to distract our lost fellow citizens.

We would like it to be known the exhibits that were shown
were exclusively our own,
All our own. All our own.
-- Karn Evil 9, First Impression, Part II

Neoconservatism is dead.  It's beginning to realize it, too, and those who have hitched their trailers to it are beginning to see the signpost up ahead, indicating the sharp turn that the nation will have to take in order to avoid sailing through the final guardrail and off the road into the deep crevasse of oblivion below.  They are beginning to panic, and babble incessantly the magic words that are fast losing their hold on the formerly dazed public.

Come and see the show! Come and see the show! Come and see the show!
See the show!
-- Karn Evil 9, First Impression, Part II

Those of us who have watched all this unfold, and are working steadfastly to help turn our nation before we crash through that final barrier into oblivion, must continue.  The truth is out there.  Some of us occasionally stumble upon it and dig up disjointed fragments.  As we piece together this monstrous puzzle, we'll share our progress with you.

And hopefully, you'll share it with those who are still strapped to the neoconservative cattle cars and guarded by a dying GOP elephant.

Thanks for reading this.  Please consider it a prelude to a KISS -- the follow-up piece to our "Sealed with a KISS" expose on the GOP ties to Lieberman and the additional political shenanigans designed to manipulate our democracy should be completed and published later today.  Watch for it.

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