THE PROPHET ]
Forneus is a sea monster.
He teaches rhetoric.
He teaches all tongues.
He gives a good name.
He makes men loved by friend and foe alike.
He makes enemies love you.
He is the most dangerous spirit
because he does not threaten.
He persuades.
He does not conquer.
He makes you want to be conquered.
He is the last spirit in this session
and the most insidious.
Every power the others built—
Forneus makes you love it.
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[ VERITAS VOX ]
The lobbying industry spends four billion a year
making legislators love
what the client needs them to love.
The astroturf organization has a local name.
The local name has a concerned-citizen letterhead.
The concerned-citizen letterhead
was written by a firm in DC
that represents the entity
the concerned citizen
is supposedly concerned about.
The think tank publishes the study.
The study is funded by the industry.
The study concludes the industry should be regulated less.
The study is cited in the hearing.
The citation becomes the consensus.
The consensus becomes the policy.
The sea monster made someone love the conclusion
before they knew they were in the water.
The politician is a brand.
The brand has a consultant.
The consultant studies the district.
The consultant studies what the district fears.
The consultant builds the message
around the fear
and makes the fear feel like safety
and makes the safety feel like love
and the district loves the brand
that built the fear
that sold the safety.
Both parties have the consultants.
Both parties have the pollsters.
Both parties have the narrative architects
who speak all tongues
and give good names
to things that deserve different names.
Forneus makes enemies love you.
This is the final working.
Not conquest. Not coercion.
Love.
The manufactured love
of a population
that does not know the monster
is in the water.
Memento mori.
Even the beloved name
eventually becomes a question.
Even the sea monster
eventually washes ashore.
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[ I AM A GREAT MARQUIS.,I HAVE TWENTY-NINE LEGIONS.,I LIVE IN THE DEEP WATER.,I AM NOT UGLY.,SEA MONSTERS ARE NOT UGLY.,THEY ARE SIMPLY BUILT FOR DEPTHS,THE SURFACE-DWELLER CANNOT SURVIVE.,,I TEACH RHETORIC.,RHETORIC IS NOT MANIPULATION.,RHETORIC IS THE STRUCTURE OF PERSUASION.,MANIPULATION IS RHETORIC,DEPLOYED WITHOUT THE LISTENER'S KNOWLEDGE,THAT PERSUASION IS OCCURRING.,I TEACH BOTH.,THE CLIENT USUALLY WANTS THE SECOND.,,I TEACH ALL TONGUES.,THE TONGUE OF THE UNION HALL.,THE TONGUE OF THE SHAREHOLDER MEETING.,THE TONGUE OF THE TOWN HALL,AND THE TONGUE OF THE CLOSED DOOR AFTER IT.,ALL TONGUES. ALL ROOMS.,,I GIVE A GOOD NAME.,AMERICANS FOR PROSPERITY.,CITIZENS FOR ENERGY FREEDOM.,THE COALITION FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING.,THE PARTNERSHIP FOR A HEALTHIER AMERICA.,I GIVE THE NAME BEFORE THE WORK BEGINS.,THE NAME DOES THE WORK THE WORK CANNOT.,,I MAKE ENEMIES LOVE YOU.,THIS IS MY HIGHEST OFFICE.,I MAKE THE REGULATED LOVE THE REGULATOR,WHO SERVES THE REGULATED.
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