Turn Them Off!

02-08-2008

Howard - Edward George Ruddy died today! Edward George Ruddy was chairman of the board of the Union Broadcasting Systems and he died at 9 o"clock this morning of a heart condition. And woe is us, we’re in a lot of trouble.
So... a rich little man with white hair died. What has that got to do with the price of rice, right? And why is that woe to us? Because you people and million other Americans are listening to me right now. Because less than three per cent of you people read books. Because less than per cent of you read newspapers. Because the only truth you know is what you get over this tube. Right now, there is a whole and entire generation that never knew anything that didn’t come out of this tube. This tube is the gospel! The ultimate revelation! This tube can make or break presidents, popes, prime ministers. It is the most awesome goddamn force in the whole godless world. Woe is us if it falls into the hands of the wrong people. That’s why woe is us that Edward George Ruddy died. Because this company is now in the hands of CCA, the Communication Corporation of America. There’s a new chairman of the board, Frank Hackett, sitting in Mr Ruddy’s office. And when the largest company in the worid controls the most awesome goddamn propaganda force in the whole godless worid,who knows what shit will be peddled for truth on this network. So you listen to me. Listen to me. Television is not the truth. Television’s a goddamned amusement park. Television is a circus, a carnival, a travelling troupe of acrobats, storytellers, dancers, singers, jugglers, sideshow freaks, lion tamers and football players. We’re in the boredom-killing business.
So if you want the truth, go to God. Go to your gurus. Go to yourselves. Because that’s the only place you’re ever going to find any real truth. But, man, you’re never gonna get any truth from us. We’ll tell you anything you wanna hear. We lie like hell. We’ll tell you that Kojak always gets the killer, and that nobody ever gets cancer in Archie Bunker’s house. However much trouble the hero is in, don’t worry. Look at your watch.
At the end of the hour he’s going to win. We’ll tell you any shit you want to hear. We deal in illusions, man. None of it is true. But you people sit there, day after day, night after night, all ages, colours, creeds. We’re all you know. You’re beginning to believe the illusions we’re spinning. You’re beginning to think the tube is reality and your lives are unreal. You do whatever the tube tells you. You dress like the tube, eat like the tube, raise your children like the tube, think like the tube. This is mass madness, you maniacs. In God’s name, you people are the real thing! We are the illusion! So turn off your television sets.Turn them off now. Turn them off right now! Turn them off and leave them off. Turn them off right in the middle of the sentence I’m speaking now. Turn them off.

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