As a proud, heartbroken American who sees the country he loves in
mortal danger of disappearing forever, I pose some questions to my
fellow Americans.
While I am still able to do so.
How many of you believe in your hearts, that the Bush Administration’s
horrendous, divisive, incompetent behavior, overseas, as well as at
home, must be stopped? That what George Bush and his cronies are
pursuing is not the vision that you have for the America you love, the
planet you love, and the people you love.
Do you wonder, ‘Where is the outrage? Why doesn’t someone do something?’
Do you ask yourselves ‘What is there that I can possibly do, one person against the might of the Government.?’
How many citizens of Nazi Germany were haunted by these very same questions?
Has the voice of the American people been rendered impotent?
Are we disheartened to the point of apathy by the fact that
nearly everywhere we look, in our government, in the media, most
everyone passively tags along behind George Bush, the ignorant bully
with a sense of entitlement, who seemingly grows stronger and more
arrogant, with each new trespass?
Is it really just as simple as, ‘Well, if the Democrats won’t stand up why should I?’
Have we become numb, indifferent, under the constant onslaught of deception, double speak, and lies?
Or is there something deeper here than just a tragic feeling of powerlessness?
Is it fear?
Have we as Americans become afraid?
How did this happen?
Immediately following the tragic events of September 11, 2001 the Bush
Administration set sail, or more appropriately, carrier grouped off on
a deliberate course to create an America where debate would not be
tolerated.
‘You’re either with us or against us’ was the clear, simple, company line.
It appeared to be directed at anyone involved, in any way, with
supporting, harboring, sympathizing, or engaging in terrorism. It
quickly became understood that it applied as well to any countries or
persons who would, over time, become opposed to the way the Bush
Administration would conduct its war on terror. Senators questioning
the war were blasted as being unpatriotic. One by one critics of the
administration were labeled soft, un-American, ‘quacks’.
Most unforgivable of all, and perhaps the worst crime the
Administration has committed, was its implication that to
question the policies of the Bush Administration’s illegal wars,
implied treason, or even complicity with the terrorists.
Through endless propagandizing, repetition, lies and distortion, this doctrine has been hammered into the American psyche.
If you’re not with us, you’re against us. This is a time honored
fascist technique. Subduing dissent amongst the masses by rallying them
in fear against the threat posed by an evil
enemy.
George Bush continually tells us that we are in the midst of a war,
whose end is not in sight.. He constantly reminds us that he therefore
sits first and foremost as the Commander in Chief. This lets the Bush
Administration go so far as to imply that all of their programs, not
just the Patriot Act, or the torturing of prisoners, but even gutting
government programs for the poor, or seeking to end a woman’s right to
choose, are somehow vital to our national security. The Bush Regime is
setting up a situation where to oppose him on any of these initiatives
is to appear unpatriotic. All policy is linked to the war on terror. To
stand up against any of it, sets one up to be deemed a bad citizen not
concerned about what is ‘best for the American people’.
Doesn’t this sound like a totalitarian regime? You bet it does. Scary? You bet.
What’s next? Will George Bush, ‘Commander in Chief’, decree that
the homeless, that Aids patients are a threat to America’s security?.
Ask yourself some simple questions.
Why are the courts deciding national elections?
Why does the Bush Administration want to know what we’re Googleing?.
Why have they been illegally wire tapping our phones for four years?
Why are they arresting people in America as ‘Enemy Combatants’?
Do you think you’re a risk to national security?
What if you can’t prove that you aren’t? Scary. You bet.
We know for a fact that the Bush Administration has absolutely no
regard for international law. We are coming to find out, that they also
believe they are above the laws of the United States of America..
Again, they use as an excuse, national security.
In an irony they are always quick to seize , the Bush Administration
actually benefits from the controversy and media attention its law
breaking creates. It gives Karl Rove and other criminals in the
administration a chance to double speak, to add another dimension to
their message of fear. It is a golden opportunity for them to
echo their message, to convince us, not just that the enemy is still
plotting our destruction, everywhere, all over the world, but that the
enemy is in fact also in our midst. Living among us. Perhaps next door.
Perhaps upstairs! They want us afraid. Both of ‘the enemy’ and, of each
other.
It is of vital importance, we are told, to be forever vigilant. Report anything suspicious. Report anyone suspicious. Scary.
Beyond this, and the constant reminder of ‘credible threats’
{as believable at this point as Saddam’s W.M.D.’s or his links to
Osama Bin Laden} and color coded terror levels streaming across
the bottom of our T.V. screens, the Bush Administration is providing us
with something else to be afraid of. Them.
Bush, Cheney, Rice, and Company have made it perfectly clear to the
world how they deal with their competition, real, potential, or
perceived. Imprisonment without trial, defilement, destruction of one’s
human dignity and the most horrific forms of psychological and physical
torture. These are all fair game, if they determine that you aren’t
working for them. They justify this in their absurd claim that they
are fighting ‘ a new kind of enemy, a new kind of war.’
Statements such as these don’t justify playing the same old horrifying
games.
Are you going to become a casualty in this ‘new kind of war’ because
your daughter has married a man in a turban? Because your children
refuse to recite ‘The Pledge of Allegiance’?
Judging by the liberties now being taken by the Bush Administration, these scenarios don’t seem much of a stretch.
How could anyone who has been listening to what comes from the mouths
of Bush and Cheney not be thinking twice about speaking out. This is
right where they want us!
It is not easy to admit that America, on our watch, is in danger of
becoming a place where we’re all going to be looking over our
shoulders, not because of terrorism from outside, but from within..
We are being bludgeoned by deceit.
I believe that millions of us are suffering from battered citizen syndrome.
I believe it is this, combined with the culture of fear (real,
imagined, false, exaggerated) created and perpetuated by the Bush
Administration, that is partially responsible for the fact that so many
of us, the appalled majority, don’t stand up.
We know that many Americans are still sitting on the fence concerning
the Bush Administration’s illegal, unjustifiable actions. Many of them
still believe, tragically, that the man willing to kill the most people
is best qualified to protect us.
Are these Americans stuck on the fence out of their belief in George Bush, or for fear of what this murderer might do to them?
Is the day at hand when some Americans will distance themselves
from others, those who speak out, for fear of reprisals? That the
people we sit next to in church, the people that we depend on for
community, for our livelihoods, our safety, might turn their backs on
us because we are voicing what our government calls unpatriotic
opinions?
Are we afraid of being shamed by our own congregations?. Shunned at work?. Avoided at the supermarket?
We live in America, not China or North Korea, and yet many people
believe that going to a peace demonstration implies the probability of
arrest?
We live in America, and yet people of color, of lesser means are left
for days, to fend for themselves without any basic human necessities as
if they were citizens of a third world regime with no rights, and no
regard for their dignity.
If we don’t speak out now, the day may come where it is too late.
The World Cant Wait.
The Neo-Conservative, fundamentalist power grab is racing full steam ahead.
The World Can’t Wait.
With every new lie, or scandal that is uncovered, with every new fact
detailing incompetence, callousness or corruption, the more brazen the
Bush Administration becomes.
The World Can’t Wait.
If you are indeed concerned about the repercussions of exercising your
constitutional right to free speech, be more concerned about what
might happen if you do not.
Our very freedom is on the verge of being taken away from us. That we
are in this position is the ultimate tragedy. And scary indeed. Look at
the damage that has been done in just a few years. What will happen if
they remain in power indefinitely which is definitely their goal.
The World Can’t Wait.
All of us who want change, who want Bush to step down must confront any
fears we may have about getting involved. It is shameful to see an
American citizenry ashamed of itself. We must confront this.
We would do ourselves a great disservice if we choose to look for
a few insignificant reasons why we should not get involved while
ignoring the overwhelming evidence that we must.
Bush must be forced from office.
The World Cant Wait.
I believe that America has finally had enough of George Bush and
Dick Cheney’s America for the few with greed at its heart?
What is in your heart?
What did you feel when you saw the horrific images coming out of New
Orleans after Hurricane Katrina?. How do you feel knowing innocent
people are being bombed for their oil? How do you feel knowing that
brave young Americans are going to continue to die unnecessarily in a
failed cause?
Listen to your American heart.
In 1942 Franklin Delano Roosevelt outlined in a famous speech the four
freedoms that should be the birthright of all citizens of this world.
These were, Freedom from Want, Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Religion,
and Freedom from Fear. Half a century later, in America, under the Bush
Administration’s policies the gap between rich and poor is quickly and
dramatically widening. Americans are being spied on, and called
traitors by their government for speaking their minds. The American
President uses the word ‘crusade’ to justify an illegal war for profit,
and the entire world is consumed in fear, much of it seeking to arm
itself against us! This will be the legacy of the Bush Administration.
Don’t be cowed by those who would say we are misguided, that we should
trust in our leaders, in our government. That has now clearly become
impossible.
Do not let the Bush Administration divide us by fear. Do not let them
make our differences our weakness. Do not let them disgracefully
manipulate our religious beliefs as fodder for their cannons. Do not
let them presume to speak for all Americans. Do not let them cause us
to doubt our own truth. Do not let them scare us or shame us into
remaining silent.
We have the truth on our side. Anything is possible.
Bush must step down.
We can make this happen, fearlessly, together, as Americans.
Sign the call.
Stand for America.
Stand with us in demonstrations across the country on January 31st and in Washington D.C. on February 4th.
The World Can’t Wait.
Do not fall victim to fear, from within our country or from without.
Listen to your American Heart.
–Brian Farrell, American 1 /26/06