Free Dumb

As the holiday weekend's auto extravaganza sales fizzle and evaporate like so many fire works the past couple of days, I have come to truly understand what patriots mean when they defend this nation's greatness via the freedom it allows. This freedom, according to the marketing schemes running all weekend, applies to the following : freedom from high interest loans (on selected models) for up to 72 months, freedom to choose between no money down or cash back incentives, or the freedom to get entangled into a major purchase during this time of economic lethargy. According to telemarketing, Americans are free to continue to consume, consume and fritter away their meager earnings because, after all, it's in the name of Freedom. I mean, fuck, George Washington would be the first one to sign on the dotted line for a brand new Escalade because that'll certainly show spindly ol' King George.
This isn't news. Our "freedom" has been packaged and sold to us for a lot longer than this past weekend. What particularly bothers me, however, is how blatant the lexicon has become regarding the use of freedom and capitol. Have these two entirely separate idiosyncratic entities become so married that no one recognizes the irony behind a statement imploring citizens to "exercise their financial freedom with 0% APR"?
The cattle call of consumerism is American Free-dumb ; every fiber of Capitalistic Americana begins and ends with an insatiable desire for material goods.