Fool Me Once ...
It has been a week since Becky and I got back from a two-week trip to Spain and France and already the pleasure of Old Europe has faded to a dim memory. Work and the Republican Convention can take the gild off the lily damn quickly.
While we were traveling, I had time to reflect on life here in the states. It is amazing how your mind clears when it isn’t struggling against the mindless chatter of American newscasters and the fear-mongering of the Bush Administration.
We met with old friends and made new acquaintances. The conversations we had were the equivalent of drinking fresh, cold water after a long hot bike ride: refreshing and renewing. Old Europe is just that, old: with a long history that has a lot to tell us, if we are willing to listen.
One theme re-occurred in our conversations: if we re-elect George W. Bush, we get what we deserve. It appears that until now, the people of the world have given us the benefit of the doubt, and have separated the American people from the policies of our government. For the last four years, Europeans have said to me, “We love Americans; it is your government that we can’t stand.” This is about to change if we re-elect Bush. More than once I was told that re-electing George would be a clear indication that we Americans are as selfish, ignorant, and uncaring as our government and that the good will we have experienced, and abused, since 9/11 will be much harder to find in the future.
Last night, while listening to the recap of the President’s acceptance speech at the convention, I kept hearing the pundits talk about Bush’s domestic agenda and his plans for the next four years. After four years in the cellar, the Compassionate Conservative was dusted off and wheeled out again for our thoughtless consumption.
While listening to the pontificating of the right-wing propagandists I flashed back to a press conference when George had mangled the old saying, “Fool me once shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.”
This election is an example of that old bromide playing out on a national and international scale.
For four years, George Bush has consistently deceived the American people. Blaming his policies on 9/11, as some of the propagandists were saying last evening, “9/11 hijacked the original Bush agenda” is just another lie in a long list of lies. There was no Compassionate Conservative then and there is none now.
9/11 had nothing to do with the scuttling of the Kyoto Agreement, which the international community had rewritten to meet American concerns and then had it rejected anyway.
9/11 had nothing to do with the “No Child Left Behind” and other similarly deceptively named programs that implied genuine concern about the welfare of the American people and the environment but were nothing more than methods to undermine our wellbeing.
9/11 had nothing to do with immense shift in power and wealth towards an increasing smaller group of privileged elite who have no interest in democracy or the American Dream.
9/11 has been a very convenient excuse to rape our country.
This election gives the American people the opportunity to say, “Enough of your lies and deceptions. Get ye behind us, Satan!” and kick George Bush and extremist policies out of the White House.
If we do not vote him out, then we the Deceived, become Deceivers too. We will no longer be victims but willing accomplices and we will share responsibility for the terrible things that our government will do in the next four years.
The Shame will be Ours.
“Facts are such stupid things.” Ronald Reagan
posted by Les @ 2:48 AM
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