Oh, Pamphleteers

I weep for the state of public discourse in these United States. The reelection of George W. Bush, the rise of Glen Beck and Sarah Palin, the health care reform debate, the emergence of the Tea Party and the Birthers, the 2010 mid-term elections: for the past ten years, the power of reasoned discourse has faded and too often failed to persuade. Facts have lost out to fallacies.

It’s the Lyndon Larouche folks that really did me in -- standing on street corners and comparing a democratically elected president of the United States to Adolph Hitler. A false equivalency based on an argument so pencil-thin that it’s not even worth deconstructing.

You can avoid the twenty-four hour new cycle. You can use the internet for it’s intended purpose -- downloading porn. You can turn off talk radio and leave the newspaper moldering on your doorstep, but the hysteria is going to catch up with you eventually. On a Saturday afternoon, minding your own business, just trying to buy a Jamba Juice and some new underwear, you’ll encounter those persistent individuals intent on polluting the public square with their precious, ill-formed opinions. The 9/11 Truthers bearing xeroxed pages foaming with conspiracies. The Pro-Life crowd with their giant posters of dead babies. The street minister greeting you with his bullhorned message of eternal damnation on a bright and beautiful day. I’m just trying to buy Cinnabon and catch a movie -- take your free speech somewhere else.

There’s an urge to rail against these ideologues and their propaganda. To point out the errors in logic. To take the poor creatures aside, grab them by the shoulders and shake some sense into them. But you take a deep breath, walk along and enjoy the rest your overpriced coffee served up with too much milk.
So, I’ve started a little collection. I smile and accept the little lumps of batshit from their eager hands. I’m collecting a kind of folklore: the specious and ephemeral words of the street, damp and brightly colored memes circulated by those who still prefer paper.

Here they are -- today’s key indices in the local insanity market, fresh from the streets of Seattle. All found today, 01/10/2011, between Pike’s Place Public Market and the Downtown library.

Mark of the Beast: RFID. Who knew that Satan had an invested interest in information technology.

Shame on JP Morgan Chase. A local critique of lending practices unrelated to Subprime Mortgages.

Stoddard V. World. Draft of a legal discovery request compiled by one of our fair city's more insane residents. Twenty pages of handwritten notes and eccentric photocopies found in a newspaper box near the library. Page one is included for your viewing pleasure. From what I can tell, this individual is petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court, The United Kingdom, The International Criminal Court in the Haig and The United Nations, in additional to several U.S. State and Federal Courts, for DNA testing of a laundry list of public and private individuals, including: Charlie Sheen, Tommy LaSorta, "X-Files Actor Man," Julia Roberts and Dennis Hopper. Claimant also attempts to file suit against several multinational corporation for outstanding liens and patent violations.

This Can Be Your Life! The best theology comes in comic strip form.