Ghostlimb - Nine lyrics

Under the delusion that they desire Your participation In the most basic affairs It's aching feet it's calloused hands The creased document mocks A directionless persistence No matter how the ratio breaks It's just a sad joke made Where those of weak an*lysis are easily convinced As long as they consent they are forever faultless Throw their undeserved support to the wind And throw their votes in the trash in the end Under the delusion that they inspire Any participation Beyond a bullet catcher in a body bag A suspect opinion "In one way or another, as vigorous he-man or kindly father, the candidate must be glamorous. He must also be an entertainer who never bores his audience. Inured to television and radio, that audience is accustomed to being distracted and does not like to be asked to con¬centrate or make a prolonged intellectual effort. All speeches by the entertainer-candidate must therefore be short and snappy. The great issues of the day must be dealt with in five minutes at the most -- and prefera¬bly (since the audience will be eager to pa** on to something a little livelier than inflation or the H-bomb) in sixty seconds flat . . . From a pulpit or a platform even the most con¬scientious of speakers finds it very difficult to tell the whole truth. The methods now being used to merchan¬dise the political candidate as though he were a deo¬dorant positively guarantee the electorate against ever hearing the truth about anything.¹