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To the Candidates: Speak For Us!
A
BUZZFLASH READER COMMENTARY
by
Linda
O'Brien
The prevailing wisdom seems to be that you should be moderate and centrist in this campaign. I agree that we can't afford to get bogged down in differences and dilute our strength -- nothing is more important than unseating Bush. But, I'm getting the sinking feeling that by "moderation" you mean you are going to join the corporate media in pretending that Bush is just another Republican president doing normal Republican things; that you are hoping to avoid pointing out that we're losing our democracy, becoming an aggressor nation, gradually developing a fascist style of government, and taking actions that may very well lead us into world war.
That plan might work, if between now and November 2004, all the focus on terrorism and war dies down and the country is allowed to quietly digest what Bush & Co. have been doing. But to be safe, we'd better also hope that Messrs. Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, and Perle become monks and renounce all their worldly desires.
Because if the election were held right now, the voters would be choosing between an individual and a myth. You, versus a larger-than-life image concocted of flags, music, branding and good speechwriting, SurroundSound, a cast of thousands in uniform, and the benefit of all the tax dollars spent on the "war on terror."
Everything we know about the Bush team tells us they will make very sure that the myth is still in place a year and a half from now. If it is, the traditional, moderate/centrist approach will fail.
I understand that you are afraid if you confront all this directly, you will lose votes. You think the myth is a creation of the American people, those people featured in polls showing 70% approval ratings for Bush. It is imperative that you understand: both the approval ratings and the support they purport to reflect are a single, nearly flawless illusion. There is no way to prove it, except by direct contact with the people. Your own professional campaign advisors, Beltway insiders, and pundits have been watching the newscasts and polls even more assiduously than you have, so they're probably more blinded by the illusion than you are. But though you don't see us in the polls or the corporate media, we're still here -- the 50% who voted for Gore, and the hundreds of thousands who marched endlessly against war on Iraq, who emailed and phoned and faxed your offices. And we're angrier, more frightened, and more motivated than ever.
You are going to have to trust your instincts, and trust us, enough to ignore the illusion. It's the genie of the Bush myth, and it has cast a spell of silence that has allowed him to justify an unjust war, unleash devastating domestic policies, and nearly erase the deepest memories and truest instincts of the American people. If you don't speak of all the dangers we face now, in this small window of opportunity when you (unlike us) can't be refused a platform or drowned out by theme music, you will be complicit in sustaining the myth that is your enemy. Getting you to do that may be the whole point of this mass illusion. It worked with Congress for the Iraq war, didn't it?
The illusion hasn't only succeeded because Bush has bombarded the country with jingoistic symbols and propaganda for two years. It's succeeded because there has been no counter to it in the mainstream culture. A myth can't be countered with moderation and silence; it can only be countered with a better myth. I'd like to point you to the Baseball Hall of Fame debacle as proof that we still have a far better one.
No one seemed to notice that something momentous had happened. But when Hall of Fame President Petroskey cancelled the 15th anniversary celebration of "Bull Durham" to prevent stars Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon from endangering our troops with thoughts of peace, instead of, "Don't taint this American symbol with unpatriotic acts!", there was a deafening shout of, "Don't politicize baseball!" What wasn't noticed was that this shout shattered two years of silence.
After all, it had been okay to politicize poetry, the Oscars, television, classrooms, charity events, and country music. No, no, you say, it was antiwar talk that was supposed to politicize those other aspects of Americana, and antiwar talk was banned. Exactly. So how was it that Petroskey's attempt to suppress dissent was roundly trounced as politicizing baseball? If suppression of dissent is politicizing baseball, then it was clearly suppression of dissent that was the political act in all those other cases. The truth leaked out.
What was it about baseball that triggered such a dangerous leak? Sports and editorial writers nationwide -- both conservative and liberal -- fumed about Petroskey's action. The Palm Beach Post said, "Of all places to muzzle dissent, the baseball hall ranks among the worst. Until Mr. Petroskey's neurotic episode, debate was an intrinsic part of the national pastime." Ira Berkow of the New York Times sports desk wrote, "Baseball in many ways has indeed come to symbolize America. For example, the manager informs the umpire that he's an idiot. That is called dissent, a longstanding institution in this country."
They didn't seem to realize that they were saying, with one, united voice, that America can take it. For a brief, glorious moment, we remembered who we are; and in that space, Bush was easily defeated.
The Bush organization has no peer when it comes to propaganda and the manipulation of symbols. But it lost this one because the images at the heart of the country aren't flat symbols, but living things. Touch one of those images while at the same time making it clear that what it represents is threatened, and the people spontaneously wake up.
The Bush image is not invincible; it is the most hollow thing imaginable. It is built on lies, obscene amounts of money, and war; the one thing it does not contain is life. Not the lives of Iraqi civilians killed or maimed yet never mentioned or mourned, nor the lives of soldiers sent to Iraq without baseline health screenings, or veterans whose benefits are being cut, or the poor, seniors, and kids here at home who are losing government programs they desperately need to survive.
Tim Robbins gave a magnificent speech to the National Press Club right after the Hall of Fame brouhaha. He grasped the connection between our ideals and national policy and communicated it brilliantly. In another time, I'd love to see him run for president. If you are to counter the Bush myth, you must do what he did. Combine compassion with outrage, remind us of our dreams, get fierce, and speak them. Raise them to the level of a vision for the future and make it a platform for action. If you have a hard time remembering or imagining, there are hundreds of passionate writers on the internet who've been writing brilliantly about the history and sustaining myth of our country. I am betting that the real majority of the American people will recognize it when they hear it, if they get the chance.
I realize I'm betting everything, as are you.
With all due respect, damn moderation. We risk losing everything -- life, liberty, freedom -- if you don't risk telling the truth now. We may not get another chance. We're in the game of our lives. Have a little faith.
Remember: Just weeks ago, in the midst of war, Baseball beat George W. Bush.
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Linda O'Brien is a resident of Takoma Park, Maryland, and can be reached at dktlind@aol.com.
A BUZZFLASH READER COMMENTARY
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