Blood in the Streets...

"Blood in the streets and blood at the polls but another election was never held."

Robert Anson Heinlein wrote that almost forty years ago. He was commenting on a pair of short stories that he'd never written and never regretted the omission; "The Stone Pillow" and "The Sound of His Wings". The quote refers to the latter story which tells of a "backwoods, pipsqueak evangelist" who seizes control of the media, rigs a presidential election and seizes control of America. He promptly turns the US into a theocratic dictatorship, combining the worst aspects of the Spanish Inquisition and Mussolini's Italy. Forty years ago, this was science fiction!

Not anymore, it ain't.

What would Bob tell us about the blood in the streets and blood at the polls? We can speculate. The Grandmaster was a libertarian, perhaps the Uber-libertarian. He was also a unrepentant capitalist and somewhat of an elitist. (sigh) Growing up and finding that your idols have feet of clay is always depressing. That doesn't dissuade me from searching...but I digress. Much as I love the man's style and his brilliance and his warmth and humanity (plus the fact that he instinctively understood teh trans), he was still a bit of prick when it came to folks who don't quite measure up.

We have a bit of that going on in South Carolina. Mr. Green, a previously unknown candidate for Senate somehow managed to win the Democratic Party primary over the expected candidate, retired judge Vic Rawl.

(I'm merely pointing out facts here. Whether they're salient remains to be seen.)

Mr. Green is unemployed and refuses to disclose how he managed to raise the ten grand plus required for the filing fee. In fact, he refuses to disclose any information about his financial support or support of any kind. He did not campaign, did not buy airtime or any commercial time or ads of any kind at all.

Yet he carried 6 out of 10 of the votes in his district, handily beating Mr. Rawls.

("Curiouser and curiouser," said Alice.)

A challenge has been filed, of course. Defective voting machines have been mentioned, the mysterious source of Mr. Green's funding has been raised and so have a lot of eyebrows, all the way to Washington, in fact.

Someone doesn't quite measure up and neither does his story, what there is of it.

I wonder: the Dem winner would be facing a fave of the teabaggers, Jim DeMint, in the fall election. Green would have his ass handed to him in a straight-ahead vote. ("Positions? What positions? He ain't got no stinkin' positions!")

Thereby handing the Senate seat to another "Conservative" currently on the teabaggers' most-favored list. A brief look at this dickhead's rap sheet tells me why; he votes against good stuff and he votes in favor of bad stuff. He says ugly, horrible things about nice people who work hard and give a damn about other people. He doesn't contribute much except controversy and animosity. He's perfect, in other words, for assisting in the overthrow of America.

The teabaggers and the fundies and the neocons all have the same general objective: conquer America for fascism. Oh, I know it's not expressed that way; that would be terrible PR, but it's the bottom line. There really isn't any other way to put it honestly. They want to conquer America, turn it into a homegrown Third Reich and rule the rest of the world through armed might and slavery and torture.

And they're experimenting, trying different techniques through various means to see how much they can get away with and how far they can push the envelope, especially through dissemination of misinformation via a controlled media and manipulation of the voting and legislative process.

Heinlein's story dealt with a cynical, greedy media mogul who took that "backwoods, pipsqueak evangelist" and turned him into a media star who could do no wrong. A few tricks with CGI (Heinlein visualized a kind of special effects that morphed the preacher into something awe-inspiring but this was the late Sixties. Not even he could have predicted what the nerds are capable of with the right equipment and software.), a call to arms among the faithful and wham: "Blood in the streets and blood at the polls but another election was never held."

It can't happen here, right?

Like hell it can't. George Bush had a fraudulent election handed to him by a Supreme Court bought off by his personal fortune and oil baron buddies.

How would they do that; conquer the country, as Heinlein envisioned?

Well, a "backwoods, pipsqueak evangelist" wouldn't be hard to find. They're a dime a dozen down South. Turn over a rock.

(A brief digression: what the hell is it with those effin' Confederates? Don't they effin' realize that they lost the goddamned War and that it's time to knock off the bigotry and prejudice and general slack-jawed, cornpone bullshit? Holy Jeebus, what do we have to do, nuke your stupid sister-molesting asses? Apologies and we'll return to our regularly-scheduled rant.)

But what "cynical, greedy media mogul" could possibly fit the bill?

I'm pointing the finger at you, Rupert Murdoch. You evil bastard. I know what you're trying to do. So do a lot of other folks. It isn't going to work, you Aussie asshole.

You're trying to destabilize American society. You're literally plotting to overthrow the government.

Treason.

You're a naturalized American citizen and you're planning to overthrow the government and destroy the country that welcomed you, you evil bastard. At which point, you'll install a puppet government and put your equally evil son in charge when you you finally die, you evil bastard.

I follow vector sums. I spot trends. I have been cursed with a skill in pattern recognition and all the patterns point at you, you warped, wrinkled fascist monster. You make Eichmann look like a frickin' Scoutmaster by comparison.

(This is what my professors would call an ad hominem attack. But sometimes you just gotta rock and roll...)

We laugh and sneer at and dismiss Fox but it has a huge audience, fully a third of the viewer share. That is not something to sneer at. It is something to be very alarmed about. Murdoch has perverted the concept of journalism on his so-called 'news-shows' and broken every rule, turned every nasty trick and repudiated every ethical and moral conviction inherent to responsible and honest journalism. Protests about these travesties result in contemptuous laughter and disingenuous comments such as: "It's not journalism, it's entertainment!"

Indeed. Thereby releasing you from the responsibility to tell the goddamned truth.

The truth is, you're going to be sued and sued repeatedly in the coming years. Certain people are going to be watching you, waiting for you and your evil clone to make a mistake. When you do, we'll be there, subpoena in hand and armed Federal Marshals at our side, if necessary. State militia if need be.

Are you listening, Rupe? Give it up. We're on to you. I'm just a tranny college student who works for a gutter-level non-profit. If I can spot it, don't you think that folks with a whole bunch more smarts than me and a truckload more resources than me (i.e.: $$$) can spot it, too?

They're in a position to do something about it, too. I can guess who some of them are and maybe even who their operatives are but I'm not telling.

But you better effin' watch your back, Murdoch.

Because we can, and will, clip your wings. Permanently, if necessary.

Hands off the election in South Carolina, bucko. No more directives to the clever lads who program those computerized voting machines. No more bribes and it would be best if you pulled your operatives out of the field until sometime next year. If we catch them, your ass is grass and I know of some really big power mowers who would love to take you on.

Michelle Diane Rose
June 16, 2010