Friday, August 06, 2004

George W. Bush -- "REAL THREAT"

I was having lunch with my wife this afternoon. From across the room I could see the big screen TV in the bar with either MSNBC or FOX playing with the sound turned off. I was only partially paying attention when I noticed a report about the election. They first flashed a clip of Kerry doing some meet-n-greet event with the caption "WESTWARD HO!" underneath. I guess Kerry was making some swing through the west.

The screen then flashed to a clip of Bush coming on stage at some event. Under his image was the caption "REAL THREAT".

Talk about truth in labeling :-)

I imagine the report was actually about the continuing controversy over the recent terror alerts and that the "REAL THREAT" was in reference to administration claims that the threat was real and not political. But the juxtaposition of Bush with that caption was a priceless moment that made me wish I had TiVo.

There is a subliminal nature to the image on the glass teat, especially in this age of continuous tickers and flashy background graphics, that can bypass our normal conscious filters. It can plant itself into our subconscious and sprout forth in ways that appears to the unaware to come entirely from within ourselves. Brainwashing is not just something they do in internment facilities.

I think it would be a useful exercise for everyone to turn off the audio while watching the cable news channels. This will allow you to focus your full conscious attention on the image being presented and to "see" things that you didn't "see" before. In this case, I caught the news giving a (probably unintentional) slap to Bush. But I wouldn't be surprised if Kerry gets his (un)fair share of the same treatment.

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