Jimmy Carter: Dark Prince of Evil?
March 28, 2002
By Politicsgrl

William J. Bennett, that beloved poster boy for conservative family values and the self-avowed moral cop for all Americans is at it again.

He has created his very own think tank, a veritable gulag of ideas; extolling and promoting the wholly American virutes of freedom, liberty, equality and a whole bunch of other good stuff that those creepy terrorists would just love to plunder. Introducing AVOT: Americans for Victory Over Terrorism. (catchy isn't it?) Well, just visit the web-site, sit back and let the patriotism wash over you.

The fundamental purpose of this organization is to take to task those who "misunderstand" the nature of the war that we are facing. Misunderstand? Who exactly is he talking about? Me? Sometimes I don't exactly understand the nature of the war. (I'm so in the dark, I didn't even know Congress had declared war!)

Bill Bennett evokes with glee the intellectual firepower that was so vital over the course of the forty years we spent fighting the cold-war to bring about the demise of the Soviet Union and the ruination of Communist ideologies - death to pesky socialist college professors and commie sympathizers! He has positioned himself as our intellectual Messiah, a morality wielding savior who will indeed single handedly rescue us all from the sin of liberal ignorance. Thank God for heroes like Bill Bennett.

The absolute necessity for an organization such as Mr. Bennett's is made evident as he deconstructs our current conflict. It breaks down like this: the U.S. is essentially facing threats on two fronts - external and internal. The external threat is derived from those whacky fundamentalist Islamic jihaddists who've made a hobby out of killing lots of people and usually themselves in the process, all under the philosophical guise of religious righteousness.

Not to be outdone, the internal threat is waging their war within our cherished country's classrooms and newspapapers through, "...idealogues who are attmepting to use this opportunity to promulgate their agenda of blame America first." Mr. Bennett goes on to warn that both threats stem from a hatred for the American ideals of freedom and equality or at least a gross misunderstanding of those ideals.

So, euphemisms aside, who are these people that are promulgating their agenda of blaming America first? Well, as it turns out, they are the ones who are questioning the priorities and motives of our government and it's role in the conflict. Those dummies!

They must be just a bunch of junked up, flag-burning college campus hippies. Screw them - I say, "Love it or leave it you bastards, you don't deserve the First Amendment!" Oh wait - what about Tom Daschle? Is he one of these idealogues who misunderstands the nature of this war? Is he a hater of the American ideals of freedom and equality?

Why, indeed he is! The Senate Majority Leader, who just happends to be a decorated and well respected war veteran, doesn't understand anything about this conflict - and in fact, by asking about an exit strategy regarding the war on terror he denegrates our national resolve. He is hell-bent on helping the terrorists.

What about Jimmy Carter, that dark prince of evil? He started mouthing off at some lame humanitarian lucheon blurting out that the slogan "Axis of Evil" was oversimplified and counter-productive because citizens of those countries tend to feel insulted and then they hate us even more. Bill Bennett's AVOT "took him to task" and rightfully named him public enemy #1. What does Jimmy Carter know anyway? That dope took the million-dollar education they gave him at the Naval Academy in Annapolis and now he builds houses for poor people. Loooser!

In all seriousness folks, Mr. Bennett equates anyone who pokes their nose where it doesn't belong when it comes to the important decisions this government is making - all with your homeland security in mind - is in fact aiding and abedding the terrorists. His philosophy implies that, if you don't goose-step along in perfect synchronization with the jingoistic leaders in this administration, if you dare to upset the apple-cart of public support George Bush is riding in, you might as well just start handing out grenades at the airport, because you, my friend, are helping the terrorists. It gives new meaning to the catch phrase: "You're either with us or you're against us."

In truth, it is Bill Bennet himself who needs a lesson in American democratic ideals. Our nation was constructed with public dissent in mind. Blind allegiance to government, no matter how much propaganda Mr. Bennett spreads in its favor, is inherently anti-American. Freedom of speech and expression is not just one of our Constitutional Amendments, it's the very first one.

It is our Constitutionally guaranteed right - our duty in fact - to ask any damn question we want to about our government's role in virtually anything. As proven by this administration's particular expertise at being secretive, they may not answer us, but that's another Oprah show. (Do we really need to know the central intelligence details of what happened on Sept 11th? No, of course not - thanks a bunch, Senator Lott.)

Let me be clear, Bill Bennett can not advertise all of the great freedoms and liberties that Americans enjoy as a model for foreign governments while marginalizing those very rights and privileges at home. In doing so he creates his own personal brand tyranny and hypocrisy and that is precisely what the engineers of our Constitution were trying to avoid.

Politicsgrl is a nice middle-class mother who lives in Seattle.