Remember the guy from Network who said “I’m mad as hell and I’m not gonna take it anymore!”? He was at a breaking point, as far as the network was concerned, and they meant to let him go. But what they found was that New Yorkers, and other apartment bearers everywhere, were leaning their heads out the fucking windows of their fucking apartments and yelling “I’m mad as hell and I’m not gonna take it anymore!” The anchor’s frustration was mirrored by the network’s audience. Viewers identified with his rage. The ills of the world had accumulated to the point that everyone was mad as hell and nobody could take it anymore. How could the network fire him? Ratings spiked, the show was hot, they left him on; to a point. The point at which his act overwhelmed the news, it overwhelmed the content, it became more important than the ills. Why does it have to be this way? Why, when you howl in frustration does everyone get so absorbed by the howl that they forget the meaning behind it. IT IS NOT COOL TO SPEAK UP, IT IS NOT SOCIALLY ACCEPTABLE TO RAISE YOUR VOICE TO A PURPOSE. And not only isn’t it socially acceptable, it’s illegal. If you protest or speak out in any way in or near a place where government business is done, for that matter anywhere where someone might hear you, the plug is pulled. The “authorities” command you to leave, and if you don’t leave, if you DON’T SHUT UP, they hurt you, they beat you, they humiliate you, they break your ankle, they taze you. If you get together with your friends in the park and start whoopin’ it up about health care or the war, the police surround you, they control you, and if it gets frenzied, if it gets intense, if people really start digging down and howling, people get arrested, people get hurt; and this is okay. Rev Yearwood wore an anti-war pin to Petraus’ testimony. Guards wouldn’t let him in. They stopped him. and when he stepped up to them, they humiliated him, eight officers fell on him, eight armed officers fell on him, they got him to the ground. He broke his ankle in the melee. College student in Florida asks John Kerry some tough questions in a room full of students, they cut him off. When he struggles he’s “ta” by police. The other students are silenced, they don’t want to be involved. Is the kid a spaz? Does he have cooties? Is he armed woth a “tazer” to defend himself? We keep cooling our jets, trying to make as little noise as possible while our government represses us on every level. Free Speech? Sure, as long as it’s a mile away from government buildings where the press can ignore it; it’s not “in the shot”, where baby bush’s virgin ears can’t hear it, it’s o.k., sure, it’s covered in the bill of rights. We citizens have lost control of our country, when we do speak out, the media bends our words, they make our news safe. When 80 thousand show up at a demonstration, they’re described as “several thousand”, when it’s 300 thousand, the media’s estimate is 100. How can it all be crooked? How can it all be corrupt? Are you mad? Cause I sure as hell am, and I’m not gonna take it anymore. And neither should you.
