Do you hear what I hear, as 300 million Americans prepare to celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace by maxing out their credit cards to buy each other meaningless crap, otherwise known as Christmas gifts? I hear the lies of corporate politicians and the propaganda of the media and the marching boots of the militarized police. I hear the sonic weapons that shattered the night at Standing Rock, I hear every door to a better future being slammed shut, I hear the coming of a totalitarian nightmare and the silent scream of democracy dying.

That’s what I hear.

I hear the storm winds of mainstreamed madness blowing, I hear the whining of finger-pointers on the airwaves of MSNBC, I hear the greed machine of the oligarchs rumbling into overdrive and the warmongering of the corrupt ruling class echoing through the corridors of power, I hear the cold wind of karma blowing across this land of dead end roads, empty streets, and bridges to nowhere.

Do you see what I see? I see an entire political party locked in the back seat of the DNCmobile, I see the driver barreling through the night with no headlights on, still roaring down the Triangulation Turnpike at ninety-outrages-an hour, with the Democratic Establishment's Greatest Hits blaring on the radio and the windshield splattered with the blood of everyone who got in their way.

Bernie Sanders tells us it’s not completely dark. That’s true. We can still see each other now and then in the glare of the flashing dashboard warning lights.

Did I mention the dead bodies in the trunk?

I’d better mention that.

There are dead bodies in the trunk.

Dead bodies of Muslim children, Predator-droned into eternity to keep us all safe during this holiday season of peace on earth, good will towards men, to keep us all safe from terrorists financed by the CIA, to win the hearts and minds of "moderate" Muslims who still don’t understand that Obama had no choice but to blow their children up, it demonstrated his resolve.

I see the whole Convoy of American Idiocy, I see it bound for Hell with the hammer down. The limousines of the oligarchs. The Humvees of the generals. The Cadillac Escalades of the corporate media. The spy vans of the NSA. The reeking garbage trucks of Congress. The rattling pickup trucks of the unemployed. And last of all, bringing up the rear, the Halfwits for Hillary of Daily Kos, huffing and puffing on their one-speed bikes, peddling as fast as they can, trying to keep up.

That’s what I see.

Do you know what I know?

Of course you do. You know, I know, we all know that abuse of power is pervasive, that the moneychangers control entire governments, that deceit is on a rampage, that the halls of justice are dark and empty, that tens of millions of people have no job, that hundreds of millions of children are hungry.

Christmas Eve 2016 will not be a silent night, it will not be a holy night. Oppression is not silent and depravity is not holy.

Chris Hedges . . .

The powerful protect their own, they divide the world into the damned and the blessed, the patriots and the enemy, the privileged and the weak. They insist that extinguishing lives in foreign wars, and in our prison complexes, is a form of human progress. They cannot see that the suffering of a child in Kandahar, or a child in the blighted urban pocket of our nation’s capital, diminishes and impoverishes us all. They are deaf, dumb and blind.

All is not calm, all is not bright, there is no calm, there is no light. Evil is on the march, westward leading, still proceeding, onward down the roads of night. The world does not in solemn stillness lay, to hear the angels sing, it waits in the darkness, in fear of what’s coming next.

Chris Hedges . . .

Defenseless under the night, our world in stupor lies, yet dotted everywhere, ironic points of light flash out, wherever the just exchange their messages. May I, composed like them of eros and of dust, beleaguered by the same negation and despair, show an affirming flame.

Composed of eros and dust, beleaguered by negation and despair, we exchange our messages here, while politicians exchange messages with bankers, issue decrees of austerity, and expect silent obedience. But there will be no silence from now on, there will be no obedience to criminals or their messengers. A song of Justice will be raised on High, the words of that anthem will be sung in the valleys of the oppressed, affirming voices will join in and raise it higher, until the mountaintops ring with it, until the whole world will hears it.

I’m just a shepherd boy, but I know a Star of Peace shines above us. It’s hard to see, but it’s there. I know that someday, enough people will finally see it, and we’ll hear a Song of Peace and Justice ringing through the night, we’ll see the oppressed people of this awakening world throw the moneychangers out of the temple, we’ll hear them proclaim the birth of a new age, an age of peace, an age of goodness and light.

Bring that day closer.

Speak truth to power.

With a voice as big as the sea . . .

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