Some of us ARE paying attention

I am convinced that the ruling class* power is predicated on the premise that no one is paying attention to what they say. It's predicated on the reality that in this ADD society, no one is going to remember what any of our leaders said at any point in the past and this allows them to redefine 'reality' as they see fit.

(*-By ruling class, I do not solely mean the Republican Party. The Democrat Party establishment is guilty of the same things. That's why so many Democrat Iraq War accomplices, like Sens. John Kerry and Hillary Clinton, have been able delude passionate anti-war people into voting for them. They are pro-war but trash the president enough to fool much of the anti-war base that makes up their party. I think that's a case of people wanting to be fooled, but that's another issue.)

However, the conservative wing of the Republican Party controls the decision-making branches of government, so I'll focus on them for now.

I've heard conservatives tell me that climate change doesn't exist, that it's a fiction of the 'liberal' media and Al Gore (and probably the Dixie Chicks and New York Times too). I've heard conservatives tell me that climate change is real, but it's a natural cycle of the Earth and independent of man's activities so that makes it ok to continue our environmentally destructive and unsustainable activities. I've heard the same people mouth both arguments. How can something be natural if it doesn't exist? It might make sense if you don't bother to think about it.

When was the last time anyone in this administration talked about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction? Back when they were trying to justify the aggression against that country, the administration mentioned Iraq's alleged WMDs (or certain WMDs, according to them) every 2.3 seconds.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is likely running for president in 2008. Gingrich has a very big mouth, which is perhaps why he's able to talk out of both sides of it.

Gingrich is one of many conservatives who praised the aggression. "I feel safer having Americans try to liberate Iraq." -he said a few years ago.

Yesterday, he changed course and declared, "[W]e, we are in the early stages of what I would describe as the third world war...."

So the impending third world war makes you feel safer, Mr. Would-be President? Or if things have changed since your 'feel safer' comment, shouldn't you disavow it.

And this neatly exemplifies the inherent contradictions of the neo-con house of cards. They've spent several years trying to brainwash us into believing the falsehood that the Iraq aggression has made Americans safer. Yet their whole plan is based on stoking the climate of fear so they can easily whip up another war against the next international Hitler (Iran's Ahmadinejad, Syria's Assad, France's Chirac). They want to reassure people so their shambolic efforts can have a tiny shred of credibility, but not so much that the people become immune to their fear mongering.

It's a delicate balance and the far right has done a good job for the last few years, but it was never going to be sustainable indefinitely. Truth always wins out in the end, even if it takes a while.