There's A Monster On The Loose

Whether or not you've actually been paying attention, the time has come for every American to open his or her eyes and, rather than recoiling in fear at the sight, muster the courage to join those allying in the interest of slaying the beast once and for all.

This particular monster lives on fear and becomes ever more powerful simply because those in a positon to know better have taken to feeding the damn thing on a steady diet of the minds of our young people. Unwitting or not, as it turns out, most people don't ever see it until it's too late.

The monster has three heads, each of which is capable of inflicting incredible pain and violence in its own right. When they work together as a single unit, however, the heads are nearly invincible. Those three heads are: ignorance, intolerance, and injustice, and each has its own strengths and weaknesses.

Ignorance: uses the tools of deception and fear. It mesmerizes its prey through a constant flow of hypnotic pronouncements, most frequently in the guise of protecting the young. The best defense against this head is the shield of truth. But defending against this head alone will not slay the monster -- remember that there are still two other heads to deal with.

Intolerance: is a particularly difficult enemy. Its weapons of choice are denigration and subjugation. It whispers a message gently and constantly in the ears of its prey: "they are different ... different is strange ... strange is bad ... bad is evil ... destroy the evil." The best defense against this head is the ability to recognize the basic humanity of each of us. Religion is supposed to imbue one with this characteristic, but simple observation of the world around us indicates that the lesson is yet to be learned.

Injustice: is the weakest of the heads -- but while the other two heads still exist it simply cannot be defeated. Injustice uses the color of law to cloak itself, hiding behind the self-righteousness provided by intolerance, and the misdirections of ignorance. This head may be merely parried until the other two heads are cleaved from the monster's body when the final death blow may be delivered against the beast.


America where are you now
Don't you care about your sons and daughters
Don't you know we need you now
We can't fight alone against the monster

-- from "Monster," by Steppenwolf

In light of the above, I have adopted "Monster" as the official song of the anti-drugwar czar. Read the complete song lyrics on my site, and start arming yourself for battle. This thing must be slain.