The Stakes

With all the subtlety of a sledgehammer, a recent Republican advertisment goes a long way towards threatening the American people with further terrorist attacks and potential nuclear annihilation... unless...of course.. they cast their vote for the GOP on the 7th of November. The spot, which recalls the infamous "Daisy" advert that was the brainchild of Lyndon Johnson, is a jumbled video montage of assorted terrorist-types vowing to attack the United States, backed by the sound of a ticking time bomb that morphs into a thumping heartbeat and finally becoming an explosion.

The sad truth is that this kind of electoral blackmail will probably work its peculiar charm on that sizeable percentage of the American popuplation who have given up the will to think for themselves, or who will always implicitly believe that the actions of government are by their very nature benign.

Of course it is debatable as to whether a victory for the GOP or for the Democrats will make even the slightest bit of difference, but my suspicion is that a win for the latter would at least bring a halt to the headlong slide into totalitarianism. Of course, for the oligarchs, kleptocrats and plutocrats who pull the strings behind the scenes, it does not matter one bit who the eventual victor is - as the underlying and unwritten agenda will stay unchanged no matter what the outcome.

The Republican blackmail advert is at least truthful in claiming that failure to act will drive the stakes higher than can be imagined. What it fails to be truthful about is the exact nature of those stakes, the true identity of those who pose a very real and present threat to the American people and also the corrective action that needs to be take in order to ensure that the stakes don't become higher.