I love America. Despite all her imperfections, and she has her fair share, America remains a wonderful place to call home. However, my love for the homeland notwithstanding, there is a growing list of issues that I find disconcerting. Maybe it’s the fact that I live in a foreign country now, which slightly adjusts the lens through which I observe American goings-on; or maybe it’s the fact that the “American ideal”, as much as we try to convince ourselves otherwise, has genuinely deteriorated in recent years. I’m leaning more towards the latter, which puts me slightly off-kilter and results in a desire to resort to vitriolic blogging. Much of my sanguine mood I blame on our current president and his army of turd blossoms. No matter your political stripes – I consider myself an independent – you would be hard-pressed to argue the point that this administration has succeeded mightily in damaging America’s standing in the world. Our credibility as a nation has been in a nosedive over the past five years or so, during which time Bush managed to take the U.S. from a position of strength immediately post-9/11, when much of the world stood with us in sympathy and solidarity, to being considered toxic in the realm of international affairs.
Moreover, beyond what Bush has done to our international standing, I would argue that he has bested that accomplishment with his regular (and often inexplicable) beat down of the American populace. From the erosion of individual liberties to nonchalant neglect of the environment to the aggressive attempt to chip away at the separation between church and state, Bush (let’s call him Number Two from now on, named after Dr. Evil’s sidekick in Austin Powers; plus, he’s George Bush #2 – see, it works!) has managed to really do himself in (not to mention his party). Combine all of that with unprecedented levels of White House secrecy and you have an administration more detached from its citizenry (and reality, for that matter) than our country has quite possibly ever seen. Most depressing at the moment is the administration’s complete and utter disregard for the law. Judging by recent developments, responding to subpoenas (enter Dick Cheney and Alberto Gonzales) now appears voluntary; and it’s apparently OK if you break the law so long as you are part of Number Two’s inner circle – the big boss man will get you out in a jiffy (enter Scooter Libby)!
On the topic of Libby – seriously, what a slap in the face to the judicial system! Libby was found guilty, fair and square, by a jury of his peers, but that didn’t mean squat to Number Two. Nope, not gonna cut it. The penalty was simply too severe in the big man’s opinion. So he let him off. Yes, Bill Clinton and every president before him made liberal use of his ability to pardon at the end of his term, and he admittedly included some downright dirty folks in his list, but at least he did it the “proper” way and waited until the end of his term! This case was disgusting in its gall, and successfully managed to turn the idea of justice completely on its ear. Perhaps you say that Libby still suffered, got his comeuppance; after all, he had to pay a steep fine of $250,000, not to mention those pesky legal bills that grow more inflated by the day with an endless appeals process. No worries. Libby’s personal bank account likely remains untouched by this fiasco, thanks to the loyal folks behind the Libby Legal Defense Trust. Can you believe one of the one-time donation options goes up to $10,000? Or, better yet, you have the option of setting up monthly donations of $1,000. It pains me to think about the millions of dollars that have been donated to this fund while most of the world toils in poverty. Did you know that $1,000 could provide emergency medical supplies to aid 5,000 disaster victims for an entire month? And donations to the Libby fund aren’t even tax deductible! Outrageous. Libby fans will be happy to know that near-candidate Fred Thompson, former lobbyist extraordinaire, has pledged to help the fund raise its goal of $5 million (it is reportedly about halfway there right now). Just as the old business axiom goes (the three most important things are location, location, location), the most important thing for presidential candidates (announced and otherwise) to do during primary season is appeal to the base, appeal to the base, appeal to the base.
Moving on, the latest slap in the face from Number Two was the release of this wonderful internal memo that summarizes the administration’s attempt to muzzle the opposition during public events. It’s called the Presidential Advance Manual and it details the steps event organizers should take to effectively eliminate any and all forms of dissent. One such step that borders on the comical is providing for the presence of “rally squads”, which are typically comprised of “college/young republican organizations, local athletic teams, and fraternities/sororities” who are charged with beginning and leading supportive chants to drown out any protesters. They even find it necessary to provide an example of an acceptable chant – USA! USA! USA!
Thanks to a recent Slate article, I learned about a couple of other doozies that help illustrate Number Two’s silencing tactics. Did you know that two Texans were arrested for wearing anti-Bush t-shirts at an open-to-the-public Fourth of July event in Charleston, West Virginia in 2004? They didn’t say or do anything to interrupt the festivities, but when they refused to remove their shirts (on the order of White House staff), all hell broke loose. Other examples include people being removed from a Bush event in Denver for an offensive bumper sticker (No More Blood For Oil), and a Tuscon student being barred from a Bush event for sporting a Young Democrats t-shirt. Read this story for some more dirt. I’m sure the examples listed here don’t come close to capturing the true scope of this issue, which is depressing to write.
It’s sad that what would normally cause me to scratch my head in confusion now simply sounds like par for the course. Taking some of the above issues into consideration, it would seem that good old Number Two shares the same DNA as some of the other “freedom haters” occupying high office in repressed countries around the globe. What a shameful state of affairs.
