By Jim Hoover
I have waited so long for an American drama where the people win in the end.
Conservative gangs, marauders from high places, have victimized the citizens for so long. Reagan rode in out of the tinsel town sunset, a likeable cowboy but flawed by ideas pushed by special interests. There was Newt Gingrich, the evil genius from West Georgia “learning college,” with his hostage option of shut-down-the-government.
Then with the turn of the new century, we got the neocon takeover, beginning with chattel barons appointing justices who in turn appointed reformed town drunk, George W. It all came with the poisonous fallout after 9/11, lasting over 7 years — years of fear and loathing.
After at least a decade of looking for the light, we bought Obama’s “Yes, we can,” which quickly turned into ashes, as the banks we bailed out burned it in their furnace of greed.
For old folks like me, do you see the similarities to western movies you used to watch? Compared to the Republican decades-long period of inhospitable takeover, demagoguery, and oppression, westerns were compressed into perhaps an hour and a half.
The bad cowboys, usually distinguished by unkempt beards, employees of the rich huckster who stole and killed on the sly, taunted, pistol-whipped, and jeered good hard-working citizens of small western towns — towns totally controlled by the ruthless rich.
Their money bought the weak-kneed store owners, sheriffs, and judges. Usually the local journalist was somewhat independent, unlike the corporate media today, and resisted intimidation. Even the smarter milk-drinking guy with the white hat appeared frightened in these movies. The latter reminded me of the Obama administration and the Democrats.
Centered in or near the saloon, where all legislation was passed and all litigation was done, you might often see deals made with the point of a gun or good people threatened by hostage-taking of favored relatives.
The bad guys usually wore black hats and used guns or the force of the compromised law to do the bidding of the rich.
Finally in the last phase, citizens all hitched up their pants, called a town meeting, made a plan, and got their rifles for a public display of unity in the town’s main street.
Eventually the power structure began to melt and the last phase never took more than 20 minutes or so.
Later stages of our own drama saw the same hostage-taking. Only the bad guys wore smirks, and lied about their real intentions. In fact, they portrayed themselves as grand old people, GOP for short.
Our aroused citizens also come from Main Street, but they occupy Wall Street, without guns.
Hopefully our story will have a good and favorable ending for the people as well.
In real life, it just takes longer.
