The hallmark of this president will undoubtably be the
Iraq war; however the influence of Karl Rove with his powerful Svengali job as
casting agent and director for the George W. Bush Show will loom large. Over
the last six years, America has been a willing participant in a reality show
created by Republicans called Let’s Pretend. Thematically, this is the
message: “I will pretend to tell you the truth, if you will pretend to believe
it.”
When it comes to acting, Dubya is a rookie, but you’ve
got to hand it to him —- the guy is one hell of a performer. After all, it
can’t be easy playing Goober Pyle, Howdy Doody, and Forrest Gump
simultaneously. Until now, the sunny performances by Ronald Reagan on the show
I’m Not a President but I Play One on TV have ranked tops among
Republicans, but the acting skills of George the Forty-Third have put old
Ronnie to shame.
Cheney, Condi, and Rummy, the co-producers of this
mendacious melange, have a flair for the dramatic as well. Their formula has
been brilliant: Take Lost in Space, cross it with some Green Acres,
and lace it with just the right amounts of Combat and Rawhide
to create a new version of Groundhog Day. What a masterful stroke of genius it
was to make the media part of the cast. When it came to the thespian talents
of the working stiffs at the networks and 24 -hour cable channels, who knew?
Stage doors will soon be shutting for our Witless Wonder
but those amusement loving Republicans have nothing to fear – Fred Thompson is
waiting in the wings. Thompson, a bona fide B- lister in Hollywood rolled out
his candidacy this week by keeping all the razzle-dazzle so cherished by his
party. Not one to disappoint, Ready Freddy kicked off his campaign on The
Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
The role of Candidate is a reprise of one of Thompson’s
earlier portrayals, but in case you missed it, this is the synopsis: Southern
Lawyer turned Washington Senator/actor/lobbyist drawls his way through America
using warmed-over Reagan anecdotes to tout Dixie-fried conservative values.
Folksy speeches that don’t really say anything but are punctuated with the
benefits of war, a devotion to God, and the love of freedom stir the crowds of
the saved and self-righteous. Winking and smiling, Thompson is assuring
nervous neo-cons that he’s their man and will continue on with the Bush
charade of pretending to tell us the truth, so we can continue to pretend to
believe it.
With rank hypocrisy, Republicans love to condemn the
mythical Hollywood life style and claim it to be the epitome of hedonism
represented only by Democrats. Yet Republicans are the ones with a penchant
for electing real actors — candidates whose multiple marriages, secret
lovers, and closeted sexcapades more accurately reflect Hollywood values. In
the days ahead, it will be interesting to see if Mr. Law-‘n-Order can cast his
actor’s spell over Republican voters.
On the other hand: Surely, the time has come for people
to consider electing a President who is genuinely more interested in winning
the Nobel Prize for Peace than the Academy Award for Acting.
