PERPLEXED
No. The sentiment that it's time to get out the pitchforks.
FORLORN
Why?
PERPLEXED
It's insulting to the intelligence. Not only do mobs have no
affect on the situation anymore--remember the mobs in the
street leading up to the invasion? But mobs will be repelled
with the military's new toys. They now have trucks with a
dish mounted on them that shoot microwaves, that make a crowd
feel like it's had scalding water poured on them. The days
of mobs are gone.
FORLORN
He wasn't serious. (To Happy) You weren't serious.
HAPPY
(shrugging shoulders)
Depends what day of the week it is.
FORLORN
Lots of folks are angry. It's not about effectiveness, the
sentiment. There's a real anger out there.
HAPPY
I'd prefer a disgusted mob to an angry one--a mob that would
just clean out the muck that's accumulated in the halls of
power.
PERPLEXED
If it's a sarcastic jest, well OK. But still, it's
insulting. It's insincere at worst, and ignorant at best.
It's like saying "Let's bang our head on the wall some more,
so we can feel better about banging our head on the wall."
It's just more static noise when we need clarity about where
we are, if we're ever going to get to where we want to be. I
don't mind anger--indignance, but what are unruly mobs going
to do? Corporate media would and will brand them as
seditious. And then what? A lot of energy wasted. Energy
that could've been better used towards cleaning out the muck.
FORLORN
Except the first step out of mind-numbed, is anger. Like
Howard Beal said, "...mad as hell and not going to take it
anymore...." Shout it out the window. People who tune out
have to get angry. I agree about thoughtfulness against
foolishness, but I also see the validity of plain rage, the
rage that gets statues toppled and walls brought down.
PERPLEXED
Think about what you're saying. It's been over a year since
we voted in a dem majority. Collective anger already peaked,
we're on the downhill to numbness.
HAPPY
I didn't mean to be taken literally. I have no desire to be
tased or pepper-sprayed or waterboarded or microwaved either.
My point is that we need to saddle up and get busy.
Together. To run these yahoos out of town on a rail. We
need--as she suggests--to remember who the criminals are.
And we need to apply pressure. Not literally with torches
and pitchforks, but with the voting booth and congressional
subpoenas.
PERPLEXED
Get busy voting? Subpoenas? We have two choices: Democrat
or Republican, and both are status quo. Subpoenas haven't
been part of the landscape all through this administration.
The idea of voting change into existence is another insult to
intelligence? Not mine in particular, but in general. Do
you honestly believe voting or e-mailing Congress is going to
turn the ship around? Do you honestly believe that?
If you do, then I'd suggest you take a deeper look at the
situation--and especially since we "voted" in a dem majority.
FORLORN
Good lord, here it comes, right? Your spiel about a
constitutional convention? I've heard you discuss it in here
before.
(During the following, OBTUSE pours a
COFFEE, and near the end, sits on
couch.)
PERPLEXED
You two are the ones who want to get out torches and
pitchforks. You're the ones who are angry. Are you serious?
Do you feel like you'd want to march on the Capitol? I just
made a vow I wasn't going to talk politics anymore. But
listening to you, I can't tell if I should wait still longer.
I can continue, saying what I've been saying, or I can accept
it's too late, and learn to make peace with that. Or I can
get angry at the ignorance and insincerity and become
disliked. Or I can leave you to play make-believe, and just
try and joyfully participate in the mess. But let's face it:
the voting system is compromised; Congress isn't going to
solve a problem it created, and voting is about to become a
figment of our imagination--much as it's currently a figment
of the imagination that the next presidential administration
will sever the link between corporate interests and
governance. It's as if there are stratas of understanding.
Some people are eager to see candidates go on and on about
the need for change, expecting real change, when no one's
platform proposes real change from...from--the governance of
common criminals.
PERPLEXED (CONT'D)
Then there's another strata of understanding, those of us who
realize the bluff has been called, and the cards put upon the
table. The country voted Democrats in, yet nothing's
changed. And yet you're sitting here quipping about torches
and pitchforks, and voting machines and subpoenas. What
gives?
No. The sentiment that it's time to get out the pitchforks.
FORLORN
Why?
PERPLEXED
It's insulting to the intelligence. Not only do mobs have no
affect on the situation anymore--remember the mobs in the
street leading up to the invasion? But mobs will be repelled
with the military's new toys. They now have trucks with a
dish mounted on them that shoot microwaves, that make a crowd
feel like it's had scalding water poured on them. The days
of mobs are gone.
FORLORN
He wasn't serious. (To Happy) You weren't serious.
(shrugging shoulders)
Depends what day of the week it is.
FORLORN
Lots of folks are angry. It's not about effectiveness, the
sentiment. There's a real anger out there.
HAPPY
I'd prefer a disgusted mob to an angry one--a mob that would
just clean out the muck that's accumulated in the halls of
power.
PERPLEXED
If it's a sarcastic jest, well OK. But still, it's
insulting. It's insincere at worst, and ignorant at best.
It's like saying "Let's bang our head on the wall some more,
so we can feel better about banging our head on the wall."
It's just more static noise when we need clarity about where
we are, if we're ever going to get to where we want to be. I
don't mind anger--indignance, but what are unruly mobs going
to do? Corporate media would and will brand them as
seditious. And then what? A lot of energy wasted. Energy
that could've been better used towards cleaning out the muck.
FORLORN
Except the first step out of mind-numbed, is anger. Like
Howard Beal said, "...mad as hell and not going to take it
anymore...." Shout it out the window. People who tune out
have to get angry. I agree about thoughtfulness against
foolishness, but I also see the validity of plain rage, the
rage that gets statues toppled and walls brought down.
PERPLEXED
Think about what you're saying. It's been over a year since
we voted in a dem majority. Collective anger already peaked,
we're on the downhill to numbness.
HAPPY
I didn't mean to be taken literally. I have no desire to be
tased or pepper-sprayed or waterboarded or microwaved either.
My point is that we need to saddle up and get busy.
Together. To run these yahoos out of town on a rail. We
need--as she suggests--to remember who the criminals are.
And we need to apply pressure. Not literally with torches
and pitchforks, but with the voting booth and congressional
subpoenas.
PERPLEXED
Get busy voting? Subpoenas? We have two choices: Democrat
or Republican, and both are status quo. Subpoenas haven't
been part of the landscape all through this administration.
The idea of voting change into existence is another insult to
intelligence? Not mine in particular, but in general. Do
you honestly believe voting or e-mailing Congress is going to
turn the ship around? Do you honestly believe that?
If you do, then I'd suggest you take a deeper look at the
situation--and especially since we "voted" in a dem majority.
FORLORN
Good lord, here it comes, right? Your spiel about a
constitutional convention? I've heard you discuss it in here
before.
(During the following, OBTUSE pours a
COFFEE, and near the end, sits on
couch.)
PERPLEXED
You two are the ones who want to get out torches and
pitchforks. You're the ones who are angry. Are you serious?
Do you feel like you'd want to march on the Capitol? I just
made a vow I wasn't going to talk politics anymore. But
listening to you, I can't tell if I should wait still longer.
I can continue, saying what I've been saying, or I can accept
it's too late, and learn to make peace with that. Or I can
get angry at the ignorance and insincerity and become
disliked. Or I can leave you to play make-believe, and just
try and joyfully participate in the mess. But let's face it:
the voting system is compromised; Congress isn't going to
solve a problem it created, and voting is about to become a
figment of our imagination--much as it's currently a figment
of the imagination that the next presidential administration
will sever the link between corporate interests and
governance. It's as if there are stratas of understanding.
Some people are eager to see candidates go on and on about
the need for change, expecting real change, when no one's
platform proposes real change from...from--the governance of
common criminals.
PERPLEXED (CONT'D)
Then there's another strata of understanding, those of us who
realize the bluff has been called, and the cards put upon the
table. The country voted Democrats in, yet nothing's
changed. And yet you're sitting here quipping about torches
and pitchforks, and voting machines and subpoenas. What
gives?
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