Fear The Opposition
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Following the disputed presidential election in 2000, and continuing into George W. Bush’s presidency, die-hard ‘liberals’ — and I use the term with reluctance, because I consider such labels inadequate to the task of identifying a consistent political ideology these days — put forth a concerted effort in the media to dispute his legitimacy, deride his authority, and torpedo his agenda. I am no fan of either George W. Bush or Al Gore, and find much to criticize in our new president, but I find this liberal intransigence both disrespectful of our institutions and divisive in a time of social and political fragmentation. I wrote this to chide them for that, but when it was done I realized its form seemed inappropriate for publication in a periodical format. So here it is.
- 3 April 2001
Since the results of the last presidential election were finally settled, and especially since George W. Bush’s inauguration, there has been a steady stream of newspaper columns and letters-to-the-editor from proud and defiant self-described ‘liberals’ decrying both his personal character and his policies, defying his authority to lead, and declaring a low-intensity civil war against what they perceive as an aggressive and pernicious ‘conservative’ agenda spewing like a toxic plume from the White House. Columnists such as Stephanie Salter of the San Francisco Chronicle and Molly Ivins in her nationally-syndicated columns allege villainy, predict catastrophe, and imply or declare openly that George Bush will never be their president. Letter writers echo their sentiment, asserting they have been disenfranchised by the election and demanding restoration of their own priorities. Editorial cartoonist Mike Luckovich of the Atlanta Constitution depicts the Republican party as a savage Viking band on a rampage of “pollutin’”. A liberal acquaintance has described Bush to me as “evil”. From all the hyperbole, you might conclude that George Bush and his supporters have a secret plan to:
- Establish a corporate government answering to Exxon, RJR-Nabisco, Archer-Daniels-Midland, Chase-Manhattan, and Lockheed-Martin.
- Revoke the civil rights of all but white people.
- Undertake a massive redistribution of the nation’s wealth from the lower and middle classes to the ’super rich’.
- Clear-cut and mine every bit of open space from sea to shining sea, then pave it over to build enormous industrial plants for the sole purpose of spewing toxic chemicals into the air and water.
- Establish a military government answering to the Pentagon and its corporate death merchants.
- Outlaw all forms of political dissent.
- Re-colonize the entire world under the American flag, and reestablish mercantilism.
- Implement a ’shoot on sight’ policy for all suspected ‘blue collar’ criminals, while abolishing the concept of ‘white collar’ crime.
- Distribute free handguns to all elementary school students.
- Establish a theocratic government answering to the one true (fundamentalist Christian) church.
- Force women out of the workplace and back into the home where they belong.
- Outlaw abortion once and for all, along with contraception and sex education.
- Round up all homosexuals and atheists to ‘cure’ them or gas them.
- Establish a national censor to clean up books, movies, television, music, and art.
- Outlaw any activity which might lead to having fun.