When "Speak No Evil" Means "Tell A Lie"
by Linda Ann Wheeler Hilton
June 10, 2002
George W. Bush is not God. He is not Jesus or Moses or Mohammed or Buddha or Krishna. He is not a saint.
George W. Bush is not a king, not an emperor, not a dictator (though I think he's well on his way to that position).
George W. Bush is not even an elected president. The ballots were not all counted in Florida before the Supreme Court decided George W. Bush would be sworn in as the 43rd president.
What George W. Bush is, however, is a tyrant. A petty tyrant, to be sure, who is manipulated by a cadre of truly inspired but evil people like Karl Rove, Grover Norquist, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, William Kristol, Dick Armey, Tom DeLay, Clarence Thomas, Condoleezza Rice, Otto Reich, John Negroponte, George H.W. Bush, ad nauseam.
Sadly, the tyranny of the Bush2 administration is aided, abetted, and enabled by the absolutely gutless, spineless silence and acquiescence of the opposition.
The Democrats in the U.S. Senate ought to be ashamed of themselves. After the courageous actions of Vermont Senator Jim Jeffords gave the Democrats power in the Senate, they have done damned little to live up to the faith he placed in them to serve the American people. They have rolled over and played dead on far too many far right wing, anti-democratic issues that have come before them. The Bush tax cut bill, the farm bill, the Patriot act (which is a lie in itself), the confirmation of right wing ideologue judges, welfare reform, the list goes on and on and on.
If Democrats lose in November, it will not be because they didn't go far enough to the "center" to attract right-wing votes. Rather, it will be because they left behind the center-left of the nation, the mainstream who believe:
1. Abortion, contraception, and other reproductive health rights (not that euphemistic "woman's right to choose") including federal funding therefor, are essential to women's health and healthy families, both in this country and around the world;
2. Guns have no place in our nation's grade schools and churches (please note, Democrats, that NRA-backed candidates have a tendency to LOSE elections);
3. Taxes should be fair for all, not skewed so that wealthy people who do not work (but earn great sums of money nonetheless) pay no taxes at all;
4. Education should be a first and fundamental right of all Americans, along with the right to vote, the right to speak out in public against government abuses, the right to practice any faith or no faith without interference of the government;
5. Our environment is being destroyed by the greed of a very few who do not want to give up one tiny morsel of their wealth and comfort and power even if it means destroying the entire planet and every living creature on it;
...and a host of other very traditional, but very non-elitist concepts that originally made this country great.
The Bush2 administration has resolutely, steadily, and without strenuous opposition impinged upon all these rights. If that is speaking evil of them, then I am guilty. But if speaking no evil means telling a lie, I will not lie.
The administration of George W. Bush is well on its way to becoming the most evil of evil empires, the kind of political vampire that feeds on the blood, sweat, toil and tears of its people.
FBI Special Agent Coleen Rowley, in her testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week, likened the FBI to a monster that cries "Feed me, feed me!" and that is summarily fed whatever will keep it happy. The Democrats have done the same with the Bush Administration. Unless and until they stop feeding the monster, it will continue to grow, more voracious, more powerful, more demanding.
Someone has to speak up. Someone has to stand in front of the tank and say "Stop!" Otherwise, it will roll over us all.
George W. Bush is not God. He cannot send down lightning bolts to smite those who speak against him, who cry out that he is a tyrant, a liar, a thief, an incompetent, a spoiled and ignorant and arrogant brat who thinks the world owes him everything, a pathetic puppet of greedy and powerful men who want to be more and more and more powerful.
But who is going to cry that out, and let the American people know that we have leaders other than George W. Bush?
Or is he the best we can hope for?
Peace,
Linda Ann Wheeler Hilton
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