"all options are on the table"

this phrase, whose only purpose is to threaten military attack without using the precise words, is one of many examples of the corruption of our political establishment. euphemisms such as this become useful for allowing thuggish behavior to put on a mask of civility, like an ogre lurking about a costume ball. the values of this rank establishment (who are neither left nor right but devoted solely to profit) are so pervasive that any candidate for president who dares to argue that some options should be kept off the table will be pilloried.

how dare you take away our sacred right to invade sovereign nations on the slightest pretext? thus speaks our spineless plutocracy, which lacks the guts for accepting difference in the Other -- which lacks, in short, the guts for peace. which lacks the courage to do away with the nuclear "security" blanket.

i wanted to draw the figure of a thug posing as a gentleman, but it seemed beyond my rough skills, so i drew a devil in a tux instead. i know this is to make my point with a sledgehammer, but -- oh well.