Sunday, April 02, 2006

Building a Bridge to the 12th Century

Former Republican strategist and current Republican critic Kevin Phillips offers a preview of his new book American Theocracy in the Washington Post:
Now that the GOP has been transformed by the rise of the South, the trauma of terrorism and George W. Bush's conviction that God wanted him to be president, a deeper conclusion can be drawn: The Republican Party has become the first religious party in U.S. history.

We have had small-scale theocracies in North America before -- in Puritan New England and later in Mormon Utah. Today, a leading power such as the United States approaches theocracy when it meets the conditions currently on display: an elected leader who believes himself to speak for the Almighty, a ruling political party that represents religious true believers, the certainty of many Republican voters that government should be guided by religion and, on top of it all, a White House that adopts agendas seemingly animated by biblical worldviews.
Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm really looking forward to the New Dark Ages. The visceral thrill of witch burnings and the spectacle of public stonings! The passion of experiencing plagues and crop failures now that we've shunned the Devil's science! A retro return to the old-school medical stylings of a good leeching and bloodletting! The glamour of a real crusade against infidels abroad! The political intrigue of internal religious infighting at home!

It'll be just like Monty Python and the Holy Grail, but without all the humor and sex. This is going to be awesome!

2 comments:

Thrillhous said...

well, no Dark Ages is complete without a hundred years war. We're on year 4 of the Iraq adventure, and W says we're there at least for another 3. I'd say we're off to a good start.

I hope this also signals the comeback of Grand Funk Railroad.

Otto Man said...

You're thinking of the Funk Ages.