Saturday, November 10, 2007

Those At Nuremberg Excepted?

What offense is taken will probably stem from the subtle dishonesty inherent in the manipulation of the situation. When one attends a politically rally, those at Nuremberg excepted, it is with the expectation that audience events are unscripted. Spontaneous. When an ordinary person comes to such a rally it is under the impression that he is on an equal footing with everyone else in the hall with respect to the persons onstage. What a shock to discover that some are more equal than others.

Politics has always been a stage. Voters know this. But they are sometimes lulled into believing there are unrehearsed events. And it's understandable if they are disappointed to learn those events are rehearsed as well. Stalin once derided Trotsky as "a common, noisy champion with faked muscles", implying that his own political muscles were real. Among politicians, how are we to know?