Talking Heads (Take Note): I'm Not Going Along With "The Program"

Don't touch that dial!

Television screams, your face turning green,

Don't listen to the news,

Don't know what you hear, they never make it clear,

They like to keep your state confused,

Propaganda time, the official line,

You're hungry, you get fed,

Everlasting smile, you must convey their style,

But they're just a Talking Head
--Motorhead, "Talking Head"

If you watched CNN's or MSNBC's coverage of the Clinton-Sanders primary slugfest this past week, you know that it didn't take long for the "talking heads" (see above lyrics) to start crowing: "Ah, Hillary's got this one." Not surprisingly, a host of editorials along those lines have started to appear: grow up and get with the program already! You don't need to show up and vote -- it's all but over, the race is already decided! 

It's aggravating, but that's how the news media covers presidential races -- by reducing them to the zero-sum equation of the "horse race." Who's ahead, who's behind...who's gaining, who's losing....who's up, who's out. Mind you, tactical stories can make for interesting news -- Jeb Bush blew through $150 million in three states before he finally dropped out, who'd have thunk it? -- but there are plenty of other angles worth pursuing.

That's why Bernie Sanders has already made such a major impact this year: by forcing people to discuss the elephant in the room (income inequality), as well as its companion...the growing disconnect between the donor classes and the voters who are expected to fall mindlessly in line. The Democratic Party doesn't ask for votes, it takes hostages: c'mon, get with the program. Hillary's got this. She needs your help this November. And so, and so forth. Wash, rinse, repeat.

The problem, as I've observed before, is that the half-loaf that we're always promised has -- in recent years -- stayed firmly on the shelf. Once our loyalties are bought for another four years, the Democratic machinery promptly shits on its voters, on cue, yet again. Life continues to stagnate or slowly row worse for the majority, but what the hell should we expect? We lacked the common sense and courage to break the latest cycle of political co-dependancy. Hey, kid, what else d'ya need? Hillary's got this. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Whether Sanders gets the big prize or not, he's jump-started the conversation, keeping it going will be the challenge, especially amid the chatter of the talking heads: "Shut up. Hillary's got this. Shut up, already." The energy and conviction that animates Sanders's causes has the look -- and feel --of a mass movement; hopefully, that energy won't slide out the door and fade away without a second thought.

I speak from experience.I live in a Republican county whose partisan dominance is so overweening, it more or less amounts -- except for a couple of small cities -- to a one-party state. The last time that anyone tried to seriously disrupt what many people see as "the natural order of things" came in 2012, when the Obama campaign rented space in one of our fair city's biggest, most visible downtown buildings.

Tongues clucked and wagged (imagine, something like this, right in our fair little piece of GOP paradise) and, who knows, maybe even some panic-stricken beads of sweat started to form....until Obama's re-election, when the campaign duly closed its office, folded its tents, and crept quietly out of town. How many people in my hometown voted for Obama, I've no idea, but I'm sure the powers that be stopped sweating themselves so cold.

As for me, I'm not going along with the program. I can't, not when I meet so many people getting such a raw deal from what those same talking heads often label (without missing a beat) "The best system on earth." A couple weeks ago, I ran into a woman at the local food bank who remarked aloud that she was going through her second go-round with the disability system.

My ears pricked up, and I started digging a little deeper. "Why did they turn you down the first time around?"

The woman responded with one of those why-do-you-ask-such-silly-questions? looks. Then she laughed. "Well, they tell me that I can work, even though it's only for an hour at a time. I never finished high school, so all I had were factory jobs."

"What changed for you?" I asked.

The woman explained that she'd had some tumors removed from her spine, which prompted the first application. Then, her doctors found some additional tumors on her neck, which she was preparing to get removed. Her only income, she explained, was the SSI that she'd receiving since her son became disabled at three. He'd just turned 11.

Of course, that money didn't go nearly far enough, which is why she'd become a regular at the food bank. Other than assistance from friends and relatives, she was on her own.

"Hell, if it wasn't for that (SSI check), we wouldn't have our own place right now," she shrugged.

"Well..." I searched for the right words, but -- not sure what to say -- settled for the usual pat expression. "Good to luck you, then."

I've been hearing too many of these stories lately, which elicit varying degrees of disgust, dismay and disturbance...as well as outrage...in me. And that's why I'm not following the Democratic machinery's marching orders anymore, no matter how the chips fall in November.

I can't look in the eye of someone who's in distress, listen to their story, and say: "Don't worry. I did my part. I went along with the program." --The Reckoner

Television screams, this ought to be a dream,

Remember what I say,

Don't be hypnotised by sugar coated lies,

Don't switch it on today,

It's the way things are, from that pickle jar,

You're hungry you get fed,

But if you play the game, you become the same,

Another Talking Head

Links To Go (Quick, Before They
Sign You Up For The Program)
CNN: Bernie Is Cool, Hillary Is Square:
http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/05/opinions/bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton-young-voters-cupp/

Motorhead: Taking Head:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrBmGBkBDZY

Salon: Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton & The Democrats' Dilemma:
http://www.salon.com/2016/03/05/bernie_sanders_hillary_clinton_and_the_democrats_dilemma_does_the_party_even_care_about_big_ideas_anymore/