The Next Step in Reality Programming

 by Anthony Karnowski  

I have often joked with my friends since the inception of “reality” television programming that the next step would be live broadcasts of religious minorities fighting lions. Unfortunately, I was wrong.  

The next step was to send thousands of young American and British men and women into a sanction-crippled nation to kill their children and steal their oil. Since the illegal invasion of the U.S. into Iraq , I have been bombarded with visions of death and destruction: seemingly all in the name of American entertainment. And my, look at how the ratings have soared.  

These so-called reporters have become no more than mere propaganda agents for the worst administration ever to have control of our great nation. And the American populace sits mesmerized, watching Fox News with a single purpose in mind: to see the latest and greatest in a seemingly interminable series of tragedies.  

How can the journalists of this nation’s media call themselves that and still retain respect for the image they see in the mirror every morning? Do they actually believe that they are more than pawns in the plans laid out by the Bush regime? Do they actually believe that what they are reporting is the truth? Do they actually believe they are doing the American people a service by reporting these half-truths and blatant lies?  

As much as I want to place all of the blame in the laps of these journalists, I know that would be unfair, and ultimately incorrect. They are no more than victims of the true source for the unrest that has plagued America . The true cause of this turmoil that is in danger of threatening the lives and well-being of not only Americans, but all the peoples of the world, lives and breeds in one place: the minds and hearts of the Bush administration.  

Bush and his cabal have done more harm in the almost three years they have been in power than is, at first, believable. Since the tragedy of September 11, the Bush camarilla has been systematically working to strip Americans of rights that are not only protected under the Constitution, but were granted to us by God; the same God that Bush is using to curry favor from the people of this nation.  

Someone, please, help me understand this. Bush wants us to believe that he worships and serves the same God whose Great Work he is working so diligently to destroy? Am I the only one that sees a contradiction here?  

Are the people of this nation so blind that they can’t see how they are being manipulated in order to further the careers of a handful of politicians and corporate CEOs? I look around at the people that help to make up the population of our country, and become overwhelmed by a mixture of emotions. The first is always pride in the fact that there are so many decent, hard-working people in the world. But this feeling is always short-lived. It is replaced by a sense of dread and, ultimately, disbelief.  

Can you believe there are actually people in the U.S. who want Bush and his cronies to strip us of our rights? They have bought into the hype with so much that they actually think it will make us safer. Honestly, I have to ask: safe from what? There hasn’t been an attack since September 11, and people are still so freaked out that they are willing to needlessly relinquish their rights.  

Let’s see a show of hands: Who really believes that by giving up the right to speak your opinion about the leadership of our nation we will become safer? Who really believes that giving up our right to free assembly will make us safer? Who here is ready to sacrifice the ability to sit in your own house with no fear of being forcibly taken, for no reason, just to feel safer from a threat that has been blown out of proportion by men and women seeking to strengthen the power they already hold over those who are meant to truly hold sway in this country: the people?  

I, for one, am not. I would rather run the risk of being a victim to a suicide bomber in a nation where I am free to think, speak, and act how I wish than give up any of my rights. Call me unpatriotic if you want, but be careful how you use that word. How sure are you that, one day, you won’t be branded with that label?  How sure are you that you won’t find yourself locked away from you friends, family, and everything you have ever held dear, simply for disagreeing with the opinion of the President?