Wednesday, July 21, 2004

 

Conventional Dirty Tricks

I always look back at the masterpiece of guerrilla political theater as the moment someone thought to send every pregnant black woman they could employ, to the 1968 Republican convention, to march around with a picket sign saying "Nixon's The One."

But the guerrilla theater I envision for the GOP Convention in New York is this: The convention hall, in the midst of the Bush-Cheney ReCoronation, suddenly filling with cleancut young men (and some young women), who are -- well -- missing legs. And eyes. And hands.

And suddenly it dawns on the assembled: These are the Iraq War wounded.

These young veterans are all wearing identical T-shirts, emblazoned with a copy of the Declaration of Independence, with the following words, set off, in bold: A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free People.

(Hey, lately they've been "cleansing" every public assembly in the Wrecks-All Wrangler's immediate vicinity of everyone wearing an "anti-Bush" slogan on his T-shirt -- we've got to get patriotically ambiguous and obscure here.)

Then, slowly, they begin to chant -- first softly, then loudly. What they chant is --

"Shame! Shame! SHAME! SHAME! SHAME!"


At least, I'd call that "must-see TV."

posted by Michael 11:31 PM