WHAT STATE? WHAT UNION?

[Col. Writ. 2/1/06] Copyright 2006 Mumia Abu-Jamal

Every four years, U.S. presidents stroll into the halls of Congress, and announce, almost as if by rote, "The State of our Union is strong."
This is statecraft (or should I say, stagecraft?); the use of illusions to keep the rabble in line.
In biblical lore, the Pharaoh did the same thing when he ordered his priests to hurl down their staffs, to transform them into vipers.
Princes, since antiquity, used stagecraft to calm the People, to reassure them of the power of the State.
But, as ever, the view from the bottom is woefully different from that of those in the towers.