Glory, Glory Hallelujah! - A Series of Anti - War Resistance Plays, by Gene Ruffini

SUGGESTED CURTAIN RAISING SPEECH

I’m here to tell you that you must leave this theater immediately. It is illegal for you to be here. The theater is not a signatory to the Patriot Act of 2002 and 2003 and the performances you came here to see are not sanctioned by the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security.

This theater has failed to prohibit any statements that describe our president as a bully, a liar, and an arrogant crook who is surrounded by cronies who have utterly no respect for the majority of the people in this country and whose loyalties are only to the rich – like themselves. These statements are what the theater and certain so-called theater artists have failed to eradicate.

They have also failed to discredit any claims that the war against Iraq was solely based on a greedy grab for oil and that all the rhetoric to the contrary is a bunch of lies. And how dare they say that every time President Bush’s lips are moving he is lying.

The theater and the so-called theater artists are also accused of subverting democracy and patriotism by stating that this administration’s incompetency and lies will cause the deaths and injury of more American military and lead to the deaths and injury of more civilians in our American homeland. That is not true. Anyway, the price of freedom may be high, but in the words of former U-N ambassador Madelaine Albright – it is worth it.

Moreover, this theater and so-called theater artists have spread the lie that this administration has sabotaged civil rights by allowing patriotic government agents to break into homes, mail, computers, tap telephones, list books and magazines, probe medical records and credit reports all without a warrant. The target for such lawful and laudatory actions are suspected subversives, that is anybody who belongs to or is associated with or knows persons who are sympathetic to subversive organizations which are defined as any that oppose the administration’s policies.

The penalty for these treasonous crimes is incarceration for indeterminate periods of time in secret prisons with sealed charges. The citizenship of American citizens will be removed and they will be deported to God knows where.

Let me tell you now that all of you have been videotaped entering this theater and your private lives are being laid bare as I speak. For instance, Mister Harvey Johnson who is in the audience – we know all about your secret subscription to Naughty Neighbors. Shame on you, Mister Johnson.

Finally, let me give you fair warning - because this administration believes in fairness and democracy – if you do not leave this theater forthwith - you will all taken after the performances into large black buses with barred windows which are now in front of this establishment. Good luck. Homeland Uber Alles – and God Bless America and George Bush.

Thank you all for coming. I’ve just received a news story faxed to me from the Associated Press which I would like to read to you.

The Bush Administration has declared martial law throughout the nation and has suspended the national elections in 2004 because of what it called monumental terrorist threats. A new color code of terror alert has also been established, going beyond red which had been the previous highest level. The new level is chartreuse. The country is now on permanent chartreuse alert, said Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld.

Under martial law and chartreuse alert, meetings of more than two persons are prohibited and all books, magazines, movies and television programs must be licensed before they are released for general consumption. All private libraries and media collections will be confiscated. A ten o’clock curfew will also be instigated nationwide.

Jury trials have been eliminated and all suspects can be arrested and incarcerated for undetermined periods of time, subject to military laws pertaining to treason and sedition, the definition of which will include any criticism of the administration.

Congress has also been dissolved. A number of protesting senators and congresspersons were arrested, but the majority of both houses agreed with the president that such actions were appropriate.

As President Bush put it: "We must take these steps in order to safeguard democracy and our way of life. Americans and our democratic principles are endangered by the evil powers of darkness. But my administration and I will do all that we can to safeguard the good people of this country."

The bombshell pronouncement came in a brief address by the President on all networks less than an hour ago while you were watching this performance.

The President also noted that American forces of freedom have achieved great victories in Iran, Syria, Sri Lanka, North Korea and the Philippines. Regime changes are also necessary in n Venezuela and Africa if their people and oil reserves are to be safeguarded, he said.

In a secret location, Ralph Nader declared – and we quote – at the end of the Iraq war, peace and freedom activists wondered what next could do they do. It is clear now what had to be done. The United States under the administration of President select Bush has become a fascist state. The price of democracy is everlasting vigilance and commitment to action."

Commentators on the Fox network and MSNBC immediately labeled Nader as a crazed terrorist and a bubbleheaded bomb throwing bolshevik.

I can only say – at some risk, but I don’t care – that I wish that I and others had done more to combat this administration – that we had marched more in the streets, had more theater productions, television programs, books, articles and films of resistance, that we had continued to flood the offices of our elected representatives with e-mails, faxes and telephone calls of protest. That we had said "No, we are not going to accept this because we believe in the constitution, the Bill of Rights and the brotherhood of humanity.

I’m sorry, but I see some people in the back of the room coming to get me and I have to leave.