To me, in this instance, "Ready" means more than just "be prepared."
To me it's saying, ready or not, here we come. Which is, of course, what it's meant to evoke. To lull us into acceptance. We'll just wait right here while you decide when to start the party, Mr. President. Have my duct tape. I guess that means I'm "Ready" for you to go ahead and start World War III. Okay. Ready. Ready.gov. Everybody Ready? Not prepared mind you. But READY? Ready to roll? Didn't Todd Beamer say something like that before taking on the terrorists? He was a hero, right? I wanna be a hero too, so I'm ready. Yeper.
You ready.gov, Gary? You ready.gov, Farrago? Hey, Marek, you ready.gov? Shelley, are you ready.gov?
Checkout the tagline: "Don't be afraid, be ready." This is polished propoganda that makes me feel afraid, not ready. And yet, wait for the praise to come rolling out, for big media to pick up all the tactics and tidbits and tips and report them as is from the site, as if they were gospel, filling their three-minute slot and directing you to ready.gov for more information.
For Ready.gov's information, I'm not ready for this. Yes, I bought duct tape and felt like an idiot when I came home and looked at my house. I can't even clean the sliding glass doors. What on earth will I do with duct tape? I guess that's why my little visit to Ready.gov made me feel less ready, less willing, and less able than ever.
We've got to hurry before it's too late. Don't ask me what, where, when, or how--pick your things to hurry toward and hurry. They're ready.
"P.S., for our Spanish-speaking friends, you're shit out of luck."
