Here comes the war!

As the Bush administration continues its agenda to roll back civil rights, affirmative action, reproductive rights, separation of church and state, etc., etc., it might be best to recall Dubya’s own words in his stirring state of the union address:

“If this is not evil, then evil has no meaning."

If you need further proof of Evildoers in the Oval Office, look no further than our pending conquest of Iraq and its oil fields. A quick recap for y’all, before we begin the next phase of Bush and Dick’s Bogus Adventure:

Bush’s National Security Strategy document, parroting conservative think tank The Project for the New American Century’s 2000 report, calls for seizing a global empire (or if you prefer, “an economic sphere of influence” which presumably encompasses the entire planet). This plan for conquest requires a secure oil supply – currently Saddam’s oil supply. Make no mistake about it! Getting that oil is in the interest of all average Americans who happen to own Energy Companies assiduously manufacturing fake shortages so they can screw consumers blind, while donating astronomical sums to the President and his Capos.

Some of our erstwhile allies (the French and Russian ones) each have an understanding with Iraq, but they may back Bush if he promises to honor current deals or cut new ones favorable to said allies. Personally, I’d advise the French and Russians not to believe Bush even if he managed to feed the thousand with forty loaves and fishes. The fishes most likely would be toxic, due to lax US environmental standards, and the loaves would be some sort of freakish bio-engineered slop. At this stage, our beloved President could walk on water, and I’d still say he’s an elitist lying sack of shit – as big an asshole as his Nazi-enabling Grand Pappy and his hypocritical Pops.

With these and similar thoughts, I took part in a nationwide meeting with our lawmakers, sponsored by the Move On folks. It’s a small step, I know, but ya gotta start somewhere. Our meeting with Congressman Mel Watt went very well indeed. It wasn’t a big fluffy liberal group hug concluding with a round of “Kumbaya” though.

Watt told us point-blank that Congress was reduced to the role of petitioner ever since they rolled over, took it up the ass, and gave Bush the power to wage war against Iraq whenever he deemed it in the national interest. (For the record, Watt voted against the resolution) I quote R. David Kaylor, our group facilitator, on further points of interest from the meeting:

“This act, (Watt) believes has severely limited congressional ability to influence future action. He spoke of the way representatives were invited to the White House and were pressured to vote for the resolution on the grounds that “unity” would strengthen the hand of the administration in dealing with Saddam Hussein. He also noted that when (he) asked what Hussein would have to do to avert war, it was as though Ms. Rice and the director of C.I.A. had not thought of that question…Mr. Watt urged us to continue to express ourselves through all the means available to us, believing that if war is to be averted, it will be because of the efforts of citizens like us.”

Indeed. So count me among the Peaceniks. I’ll still continue to kvetch about the political scene on these pages, mostly because it’s so much fun, but I’m also taking baby steps towards action. There’s more than a grain of truth in the truism, that meaningful change only comes about when citizens want it.

A benign Federal Government did not grant Civil Rights to African Americans. Justice was won in the streets after a long (and ongoing) struggle. The war in Vietnam did not end because Washington realized there was no military solution to the conflict. If that had been the case, the war would have been over in 1965. Rather, growing opposition at home (along with unacceptable casualties overseas) pulled the plug on Washington’s Southeast Asian adventure.

So I see it as my job to oppose not just Bush’s war, but also the man himself. It may come as a surprise to some of my Uber-Republican co-workers, but it actually took me a while to come around to a position best stated as “Fuck Bush and anyone who thinks like him.” I’ve deluded myself long enough that I could somehow persuade or reach a compromise with the president’s supporters. I’m merely here to oppose them.

If that sounds a tiny bit grandiose – a bit of Krushchevian hammering the table with a shoe while bellowing “We will bury you Bushies!” – so be it. The current crop of elitists in the White House are further along the path to totalitarianism than any other administration in my lifetime, and that is unacceptable.

It’s been stated before that our basic freedoms are not our birthright, that a time will come for each generation when we must struggle and win our rights anew. We live in such a time.
 
¶ 1/31/2003 :: E-mail Pat