It's not venereal disease of which I speak, although one might wonder about that with the unfaithful tendencies of the GOP of late.  It's about Visceral Disease, an emotionally charged state of being that defies logic, that blinds the infected with an inability to understand rational explanations.  This illness clearly has all the hallmarks of Rovian tactics.  It is spread by talking points that have no basis in a temporal reality, but they are real.  They effect a deep, unconscious part of the brain, a place that has been watered and treated with herbicides, pesticides and petrochemical fertilizers to create a rich, dark soil, amped up to grow an invasive species that by design will choke out any other plants by depriving them of light and lead to some blissful homocroptual existence on the planet.  It seems we are developing an immunity to it, but we need to be prepared for any mutations that might emerge and foment another plague.

Have you ever stood in awe at how the absurdities of their declarations are ignored and the agenda advances despite the lack of truth in the basis of their presentation.  Death panels?  Ignore everything about it, just feel the words, death panel.  It's scarey.  What about Weapons of Mass Destruction?  I don't know about you, but just hearing this makes me want to crawl under my desk.  Take away my guns?  I'm feeling vulnerable and defenseless.  Defense of Marriage/Christmas - were they under an attack?  I mean, seriously, was violence threatened, because that is typically what one thinks of when they consider defense, that one may need to resort to violence.  We have an entire federal department for just that purpose, defending by violent means.

Czars!  This is the latest, but it's really rather dated.  The GOP began with this meme.  I am so intimidtaed by the royalty of that expression.  I can't go near a czar.  I have no voice whatsoever in the face of a czar.  Father Gapon thought he could bring the complaints of the peasants to the czar and was met with cossacks on horseback brandishing swords and rifles.  It was Bloody Sunday in Russia, 1905. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloody_Sunday_(1905)  Oh, I'm going to stay away from that autocrat, and resent him the entire time! 

Considering this meme when the GOP used it, it was to intimidate and bestow an air of superiority on the director.  It was intended to exude power and broadcast in a positive light, something serious was being done.  It was a very useful tool in a government not inclined to respect voices of the majority of people but preferring to listen to the voices of special interests.  But now the Adminstration is not GOP, and all the darkest suggestions are being created to frighten people.  Bush equalled a benevolent monarch, a father figure and Obama is a despot.   But which President joked about dictatorship?  Oh, it was a joke, and laughter feels good.

For a long time, the GOP has provoked visceral reactions by people in many ways, not just fear.  They provoke anger, which is strongly related to fear, but they also provoke jealousies, a base sentiment thrust at the unions for their decent wages and healthcare.  It's been masterfully orchestrated.  People prefer to take away the benefits of union workers rather then obtain those benefits for themselves by forming a union.  Seriously.  Does anyone verbalize the result of their destructive inclination?  In real words they are promoting this expression, "I don't want better wages or health care, and I don't want them to have those benefits either!"

The good news it that there is hope in the next generation.  There were large numbers of students who stepped up and worked hard to get Obama elected, and these were college age kids.  But take a look at the students yet to emerge from high school, http://www.tampabay.com/features/article1034344.ece.  [Borrowed from js fox, who borrwed it from DialyKOS, http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs/jsfox/2009/09/and-a-child-shall-lead-us.php?ref=reccafe ] . These young adults are not infected with the virus of visceral reactions.  They get it.  They are aware.  They see the light.  It gives me hope that I might have social security when my time comes and I might not be left to whither away on the street after healthcare costs have taken away my savings and my home.  The GOP is once again providing the people with good feelings - laughter, and that makes me feel good.