We’ve doubtless all heard of the Staff of Hippocrates (also
known as the Rod of Asclepius), a rod entwined with a serpent, which symbolizes
the medical profession (for some strange reason: why would a snake coiled
around a stick be associated with medicine?). And for partisan politics, a
field populated with politicians, pundits and partisan propagandists
masquerading as news anchors and commentators, the symbol is the Shaft of
Hypocrites, by which they give the rest of us “the shaft”. The shaft symbolizes
the shaft we the public get from these dishonest spin doctors, and it looks
like a microphone stand with a microphone at the top of it, with poisonous
snakes twisted around it, symbolizing how their words poison society with the venom
of partisan hatred, spin and lies.
