Protecting a Trademark

Taken together, the deceptions of the Bush administration are like one of those ten dollar chocolate decadence desserts that features chocolate chip chocolate ice cream on top of a brownie swimming in fudge sauce with semi-sweet chocolate shavings on top. Though a little monotonous, the stylistic unity of the confection is impressive. Under the circumstances it’s easy to be distracted by the small lies that garnish the big ones. If you look carefully, however, you can see that the claim that the administration favors democracy is the largest item on the plate and easily dwarfs items like the bit about the African uranium or Bush’s military record or even the comprehensive and continuing misrepresentation about tax policy and the budget. At the very least, when an administration spokesperson writes about democracy, they should print the word as Democracy™ since we can be sure that the product in question has nothing to do with the consent of the governed and has about as much similarity to its notional referent as non-fat lard has to pig blubber. True, if the people of a weak and despised state vote as we wish them to, we may not invade or bankroll a coup. In this respect, we are exactly as fervent in our support of the popular franchise as the Soviets who, after all, also steadfastly supported the people’s inalienable right to vote for the government candidate.