Say Hello to 'Liberty Shrugged'
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Say Hello to 'Liberty Shrugged'
The Letts Journal launches channel on political satire - like a freight train through the mumbo jumbo
From slapstick, to snark, to the highbrow of satire no one can deny the fun of poking the bear (metaphorically of course), letting the air out of political pronouncements, a little in fragante delicto of the powers that be. So this is the game on a political playground. Welcome to ‘Liberty Shrugged’.
We'll question the power of the legislature, power of big business, power of the press, power of social media giants, the power of the presidency, the power of institutions, power of state authorities, the power of the people.
The power of a mop of blond hair, an empathetic/doddering Grandaddying, grandstanding blowhards, impotent pointy heads. Question the power and control to affect change or not affect change as it exists in our democratic societies.
Some say follow the money. A horde of Guy Fawkes chasing Mr. Monopoly. Others cry don't replace me. Tiki torches and white robes barely hidden (lately brazenly in the open) fomenting people's fear and insecurity. We must protect our bananas and fish and our right to empty shelves. Our very own wizards of oz pulling people like levers and harnessing their votes.
Religion, income, education, gender, race, immigration, sexual orientation, class, nationalism, status all hot topics we gobble up like hot pockets. And political players harp on, lathering us up from their twitch soapboxes to get a vote. Conservative, progressive, right leaning libertarian, authoritarian, corporatist, democrat, republican, social libertarian, right, left and centre the belief systems that purportedly produce grand proposals to better our lives. But whose lives are they bettering?
The avuncular radio hosts, tik tok leftists or YouTube right wingers. Are the winners just the best manipulators of the people's belief systems? Are they true believers? Are they just lovers of money, power, the sound of their own voices or is theirs a true concern around the issues at hand. Does what begins as true concern in some, acting faithfully in the furtherance of firmly held democratic goals get warped over time. The seduction of power, celebrity, money, the sound of their own voice droning away. They are very important. They want to be very important. They will say what's needed to remain very important and how many clicks did that headline get?
At the end of the day, democratic governments were founded with the clarion call of freedom, equality, individual rights and responsibility; for the freedom to choose our lifestyle and live happy productive fulfilling lives. It's all very noble.
The 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, together with the 1215 Magna Carta, the 1689 English Bill of Rights, the 1776 United States Declaration of Independence, and the 1789 United States Bill of Rights are the documents that are the foundation of our western societies.
All of them based on ideas sounded out by the third and fourth sons of wealthy families who had nothing else to do. The 18th century pamphlet is today's twitter feed, facebook page, reddit, parler, gettr and gab.
"Give me liberty or give me death", the American revolutionaries exhorted; ‘live free or die’ hammered into every license plate in New Hampshire by convicts; "liberte, egalite, fraternite," wrote Robespierre who promptly chopped the heads off of anyone who questioned his authority, an 18th century Taliban. Today we get crazy obgyn's talking about vaccine demons on Facebook and Gettr's feed full of anime porn and repeated copies of an image depicting Hillary Clinton’s head photoshopped onto another woman’s nude body. Talk about raising the bar on political discussion.
Liberty Shrugged is the space to examine/skewer the issues of the day, the actions of our politicians, big business, the press, tech titans, big oil, our institutions, religious leaders. Glorious liberty shrugging as we chase.
‘Liberty Shrugged’ is a monthly column at the Letts Journal about political satire - unchained.