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Every Civics Lesson a Lie

A BUZZFLASH READER CONTRIBUTION
by Jeff Horton

When this started, I said to my daughters "Don't worry. This is America. Even the most rabid conservative wouldn't forego his principles to support an idiot."

When I saw them destroy a genuine American hero during the primaries, I said, "Don't worry, this is America. The voters will see through this."

Before the election I said "Don't worry. This is America. He's lost every debate. He's inarticulate. He has no grasp of foreign politics. The republicans know there is no way to win this election, so they've sacrificed this bozo and they're saving up for 2004."

When Florida was contested I said "Don't worry. This is America. We count all the votes."

When the Florida Supreme Court ordered a recount I said "Don't worry. This is America. Republicans have always embraced states' rights. There is no way the US Supreme Court will interfere."

When he was sworn in I said "Don't worry. This is America. He's utterly incompetent. We know it. They know it. Even he knows it. The House and Senate will prevent anything stupid from happening."

On 9-11 I talked to my oldest daughter in New York. "Don't worry. This is America. He isn't in charge of anything. Cooler heads will prevail. We'll get through this. The entire world is on our side."

Before the invasion I said "Don't worry. This is America. There are too many obstacles in his way. He'd have to get consent from congress. Then he'd have to overcome massive opposition from the public. We couldn't do something like this without allies, and 90% of the world is against the idea."

When he lied about his peccadilloes, about his arrest, about his shady deals, about education, about taxes, about payoffs, about pollution, about his ties to the Saudis, about his military service, about his cover-ups of 9-11 and Enron, about the weapons in Iraq I said "Don't worry. This is America. Even the most devoted practitioner of conservative politics will be appalled and disgusted with this behavior. He'll be condemned in the halls of congress and on every front page of every newspaper in the country."

A few months ago I said "Don't worry. This is America. No president has ever gotten away with a deliberate lie in a State of the Union Address."

When it became clear that someone in the administration had revealed the name of a clandestine CIA operative I said "This needs to be addressed. The president cannot afford to be antagonistic to the prime source of information regarding the safety of the nation. This is America. We don't permit vindictiveness to overshadow our security."

When I heard that he was going to address the UN I said "Don't worry. He'll surely apologize to our old friends and admit that he was wrong. He'll explain that he lied, that he misled everyone, and we'll regain our status."

My daughters were able to read when they entered school. I bored them to distraction with my lectures on democracy and history and diversity and how wonderful it was that we live in this marvelous place at this marvelous time. I somehow led them to believe that our system was so well designed that not even an incidentally-elected imbecile could, no matter how well-intentioned, screw it up. It is painful to admit that I was wrong. It is more than painful. It means that every civics lesson I ever gave my daughters was a lie. I gave them hope that did not exist. I gave them promise that I had no way of providing. I gave them assurance that there were protections in place, when in fact there were none. Not the press. Not the citizens. Not even world opinion. My granddaughters may someday ask me what I did when my country was in peril. My answer may only be that I wrote this letter.

Jeff Horton
Stoughton, Wisconsin

A BUZZFLASH READER CONTRIBUTION