Lessons from the last two days of professional liberalism

1. If you (a) hold elected office or (b) a position of power and influence in a media conglomerate, and (c) plan, execute, fund or euphemize sky robot murder, starvation austerity, war powers expansion, occupations and escalations, coups d'etat, wetwork, black ops and the militarization of public space - you bear no responsibility for the decisions of those following your direct orders, or who act under the cover and normalization you promote. If you apologize for those who, under orders, commit the acts which directly contribute to your wealth and comfort, and to the maintenance of a continent spanning system of degradation, imprisonment and oppression, you bear absolutely no responsibility for the consequences of the systemic destruction of human life which you support and promote. You are a public servant. A leader. An exemplar of civilization.

2. If you use campaign rhetoric which does not sanitize political conflict, or read books which do not pass official muster, or if you do sit not in current favor with those who have the wealth and influence to arrogate to themselves the arbitration of taste, worth, sanction, viability and validity, you bear complete responsibility for acts of violence committed by persons you have never met.

3. If you campaign for a man who, during the course of his contest for the most powerful office in the history of the human race, rather brazenly admits that his foremost foreign policy focus will expand the occupation of and attacks upon one of the most destitute regions of the planet, this to include the escalation of home invasions and drone murders, and the re-creation of rape and death squads, you have done your civic duty. You belong. You have earned your due, and your keep.

4. If you doubt the claims of those who rule; if you take even a moment of your day to publicly express discontent with or disapproval of the claims to authority, to sanctification, to the mandate of heaven routinely offered by the wealthy and powerful; if you have the misfortune to assume that the powerful tell lies; if you question the disconnect between the efficacy of government and claims about that efficacy; if you have the audacity to read Marx, or "anti-government" literature; if you have unsanctioned or unmediated notions about money, symbols, representation, affiliation or the epistemes employed in the defense of power, you shall henceforth bear the scarlet letter, the opprobrium of the lunatic outcast. You do not belong.

5. Wear it with pride. Because you do not belong. Live in the manner which best frightens the shit, the complacency and the hubris out of them. Make them waste treasure trying to save you from yourself. Bog it down...