I have, as many have, been deeply disappointed by the state of current affairs far before and now after the last presidential election. Only two days ago I saw a speech by Karl Rove in which he insisted, again, that the president has a mandate to do whatever he chooses based on a sad 1% of the voting population. Pat Robertson, only yesterday, declared that Bush’s most urgent issues are “judges, judges, judges.” The recent finds in “Gannongate” have gotten elusive reactions from the White House at best, and straight lies at worst.
Anymore, I haven’t written about any of it because I care about my blood pressure.
Media Girl has written a powerful reconsideration, and a scathing condemnation, of what makes America so great. It has nothing to do with the “ideals” of those above. In part:
The tone was set in the Constitution of the United States of America, which codified a set of principles and rules that have allowed this country to see the abolition of slavery, women’s suffrage, voting rights, civil rights — all tumultuous changes in the moral fabric of our society — without bloody coup or government overthrow.
I see a country that embraced the freedom of people to speculate on their own futures and take risks, free of the threat of debtor’s prison. I see a country that, in facing economic disaster, stood together, pooling resources so that all citizens stood together as a society, secure against the most dire costs risked with uncertainty.
I see a country that mobilized its entire economy and population to fight a war against nations that did not respect citizens’ rights, built up frightening military machines, and dared to dictate to other nations how they should live. I see a nation that, after conquering dozens of nations militarily, proceeded not only to withdraw without claiming any sovereignty, but also gave blood and treasure to help those nations — including the vanquished enemies — rebuild from their ravages of war.
I see a country that, time and again, has faced its dark demons and changed its ways. I see a country that led the world in compassion and generosity, a country that, despite its overwhelming wealth and power, has been admired and respected all around the world.
In turn, she condemns those with attitudes that bank on American “greatness” as license to do whatever American government chooses. They are, she says, “rabidly vitriolic when they confront the reality of racial, ethnic, sexual and economic diversity in this country. They absolutely despise any and all programs designed to provide any sort of community safety net. They abhor notions of human rights in this world. They suppress any and all efforts and the liberation and empowerment of women, here and abroad. And they fear all the way down to their bones the Enlightenment, Reason and Science, and work with all their passion, energy and strength to destroy them to create a new vision of the world, starting right here in America.”
She asks if there is a label for this kind of wingnuttery. I say neo-conservatism.
* They seem to flip the cart in front of the horse, claiming not that America is great because of the great things it does, but rather they claim that America is great, therefore it can do what it wants.
* They embrace and employ the use of torture, and consider human rights “quaint” and inconvenient.
* They quash free speech.
* They embrace “might makes right” as foreign policy doctrine.
* They ignore the importance of a strong economy.
* They treat the citizens of this country as the enemy.
* They work to tear apart the social programs that provide the modest safety net that exists.
* They seek to take away women’s rights over their own bodies and their own lives.
* They endeavor to destroy public education.
* They make a crime not only what someone does, but what someone might do.
* They do whatever is necessary to disempower minority cultures and communities in matters of elections.
* …and not just a few other things, too.
All of these things are built by a culture of fear, a strategy that works in the short term, but rarely in the long term. One’s best hint to this strategy is located in the list: “They treat the citizens of this country as the enemy.”
Many won seats in the most recent elections on their closed-minded interpretations of Constitutional and Biblical texts, and sometimes plain bigotry. One wonders if these politicians and talking heads want their legacies to be based on such bigotry, but in the short term, fear-based trends work far better than social fairness. Further, those whose careers are rooted in such “pro-family” and “pro-life” agendas are rarely called to task for their own personal hypocrisies or are lauded for their “idealism” over their pragmatism. And those of us who dissent are hateful, unpatriotic, traitorous, elitist, naive, or we are just plain silenced.
For shame. One wonders why we continue to invest ourselves in this system at all.
Reasonably Related Reading:
Rad Geek’s look at the Founders intention to truly separate church and state.
Ded Space on John Negroponte.
Netaloid on Big Brother’s Master Human Identification Card that will be forced on the states through fiscal blackmail.
The Republic of T on the disappearance of Queer.
An Old Soul on how research doesn’t matter when it comes to pushing an educational agenda.
Pharyngula on public schools and Bible classes. Together.
Confessions of a former “dittohead,” a Rush Limbaugh devotee.
and
ShutUpAndTeach.org