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The
Doctrine, Part Two
April 19, 2002
By S.A. Lowery aka Khephra
...continued
from Part One
The Doctrine at Home
There ought to be limits to freedom" — George W.
Bush, May 21, 1999.
Once again, the Bush Doctrine rears its ugly head, but this
time instead of being a foreign policy, it is being applied
as a subtle call to divide our citizenship into two camps
- those who are with Bush in his War on Terror, and those
who are against it.
What are we, the American public, afraid of post 9/11? It
is not just Osama bin Laden and terrorism striking again here
at home that has the American public in a constant state of
paranoia. It is also Bush and his Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
-- Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld, and Wolfowitz - along with his
Grand Inquisitor, Ashcroft, who have put the fear into many
of us Democrats, and non-democrats alike.
A man so afraid of justice he has to cover it up, Ashcroft
is the bulldoggish Big Brother many of us feared he would
be. Ashcroft dared to insult both the Senate Judiciary Committee
and every patriotic American who disagrees with Bush, when
he linked dissent and the questioning of the Bush's War on
Terror to assisting terrorism. A few Democrats confronted
him with vigor, but overall the Senate Judiciary Committee
just sat there and let him do it instead of calling him on
it. It was at that moment, when Ashcroft stood up to your
Committee, when the right wing's new War on Dissent began
in full. And it began with your quiet blessing.
Let me directly quote a legal analysis of the worst aspects
of the Patriot Act for those of you who didn't have the time
to read it:
"Among the USA Patriot Act's most troubling provisions, the
ACLU said, are measures that: Allow for indefinite detention
of non-citizens who are not terrorists on minor visa violations
if they cannot be deported because they are stateless, their
country of origin refuses to accept them or because they would
face torture in their country of origin.
Minimize judicial supervision of federal telephone and Internet
surveillance by law enforcement authorities.
Expand the ability of the government to conduct secret searches.
Give the Attorney General and the Secretary of State the
power to designate domestic groups as terrorist organizations
and deport any non-citizen who belongs to them.
Grant the FBI broad access to sensitive business records
about individuals without having to show evidence of a crime.
Lead to large-scale investigations of American citizens for
'intelligence' purposes."
(Source: USA Patriot Act Boosts Government Powers While
Cutting Back on Traditional Checks and Balances by The
ACLU)
If these powers do not strike fear in your hearts now, months
after you have signed the Act into power, then you have not
been paying attention to the Bush Administration. Even in
the hands of trustworthy public servants, these powers would
be disturbing, but under Bush they are horrifying and a cause
for alarm.
After Ashcroft's appearance, right wing pundits flooded the
airwaves with venom for the left and anyone else who dared
to think for themselves and question Bush's actions. Ann Coulter
ranted; Bill Bennett organized; Jerry Fallwell blamed, and
Pat Robertson agreed. The battle lines were drawn, and it
was once again "Us versus Them" politics, but this time, instead
of it being the U.S. versus terrorism, it is the conservatives
versus the liberals.
These public figures are not insignificant; they influence
many people, many people who vote Republican and many of the
undecided. Should they be shut down, their freedom of speech
restricted, like they would do to us? Of course not. But to
fight hate, you have to expose it to the truth, and unless
you counter their statements, they will just keep on convincing
others that the conservative way is the right way. You must
bring their hateful words to the attention of the public,
and then you will find most Americans will be sickened by
their hate. But this will only happen if the people have the
chance to hear their words of hate countered by your rational
arguments for sanity. You have been too quiet for far too
long now.
While the likes of Coulter and Fallwell are both loud and
easy to spot, it is organizations like Bennett's AVOT, hiding
in the shadows, that are the most dangerous. Bennett's own
statements invoke the worst of the dark ages of the Communism
hunts, and send chills down the spine of anyone who understands
our country's history.
Let me bring two William Bennett quotes to your attention,
and let them serve as a warning of where the Republicans could
take us, if left unchecked:
"The threats we face today are both external and internal:
external in that there are groups and states that want to
violently attack the United States; internal in that there
are ideologues who are attempting to use this opportunity
to promulgate their agenda of "blame America first." Both
threats come in various guises, but both threats stem from
a hatred for the American ideals of freedom and equality or
a misunderstanding of those ideals and the implementation
of them. Our goals will be aimed at addressing the present
threats so as to eradicate future terrorism and ideologies
that support it. The central focus of our activity is public
opinion. "
And:
"Our committee will model itself on organizations such as
the former Committee on the Present Danger and the Committee
for a Free World. AVOT will:
-- educate the public about the nature and threat of terrorist
organizations and states;
-- educate the public about the nature and threat of radical
Islamism;
-- help articulate American ideals in schools and on campuses;
-- support democratic patriotism when it is questioned; and
-- take to task those groups and individuals who fundamentally
misunderstand the nature of the war we are facing."
(Both quotes from "An Open Letter From William Bennett, TO:
Interested Parties FR: William J. Bennett, Chairman RE: Americans
for Victory Over Terrorism (AVOT), a project of EMPOWER.org
DATE: March 12, 2002")
If the Democratic Party does not recognize the echoes of
infamous history in Bennett's words, then there is no hope
for us all. There was another time when people hid behind
flags and accused others of being unpatriotic, and many on
the right wing look back on that period as a Golden Age. But
it was not a Golden Age by any means, despite how the right
wing might like to eulogize. It was one of the darkest periods
of our country's history, and we would be wise to prevent
it from ever happening again.
Additionally, if the Democratic Party was willing to strike
back against the perpetrators of 9/11 because we, as a country,
were attacked first and it was a just cause, then how can
we do no less when our patriotism and our party is attacked
and dissent is under siege from the right?
Currently the Democratic Party is under attack by people
who would push their extreme right-wing agenda through at
all costs, whether the American people want it or not. Many
of you have sat silent while the right wing has attacked the
left wing without mercy and without any sense of fairness
or concern for the truth. So I ask you all this question:
Is the Democratic Party's survival and the liberal way of
life not a just cause as well?
With the Patriot Act in place, there will be little defense
for those of us who dare to speak out against the Bush Administration's
policies, should organizations like Americans for Victory
Over Terrorism ever receive any special help from those in
power. The Bush Administration has already shown a love for
power, partisanship, and pressure, so this is not an unreasonable
situation to ponder. So I ask you, what will happen to us
Angry Democrats when Bush's numbers finally go south -- as
they are starting to do -- and the protests start getting
louder and louder, if the Democratic Party is still on the
sidelines? I think you already know the answer to that question.
Are we, as a party, going to allow such groups as Americans
for Victory Over Terrorism to control the direction of discourse
on today's campuses and in the media without a Democratic
alternative? I say to you all, your answer should be a resounding
NO! Those who hide behind the flag are often the worst offenders
of Freedom, and they must be countered by truth and rational
discourse, never censorship.
So far no one is speaking out on our side except for some
of the old standby organizations such as NOW and the NAACP,
and I would like to personally thank all the groups on the
left that have stood up to the Bush agenda so far. However,
it is time for the membership in the Democratic Party to organize
new grassroots organizations specifically formed to counter
the right-wing Think Tank blitzkrieg every where it appears.
You will find us Angry Democrats who refuse to "get over it"
willing to help you in your fights as well. The assistance
will not be one-sided. The right wing feverishly supports
their organizations, and I ask you to do the same. Please
read our letters, emails, and answer our calls for help. Assist
us in our fight against the incompetent Bush Regime before
it is too late.
Groups like Americans for Victory Over Terrorism will be
controlling the future direction of the country, unless you
step up to the plate and form similar groups. Send forth skilled
spokesmen and women to counter them with the truth that it
is American to keep an open mind, to disagree with one's leaders,
and that patriotism is not defined by having a flag in your
front yard or stuck to your bumper.
These days when I look at the flag, I don't see the freedom
for which it once stood, instead I see a jingoistic symbol
being pushed to sell products on TV, some of them even enhanced
by Bush's image and voice. The war is even being pushed with
the same crass commercialism. The flag is being used, or rather
abused, as being the badge of a "Real American." Don't you
dare be caught without one, people might talk, and who knows
what they might say behind your back. It is easy to wave a
flag and yell "freedom" at the top of your lungs, but it is
a bit harder to actually understand the real meaning of the
word.
Was it hard to take those flag pins off your chest? My mistake,
some of you are still wearing them. Did the Republicans guilt
you into wearing a cheap pin to prove your patriotism? Did
they also make you say a loyalty oath before you could put
one on, just to prove you were a "Real American"? Oh well
- maybe next time they will. I am sure there will be some
Democrats who would not argue. Maybe if you ask them nicely,
they will give you a uniform to wear, as well, so everyone
can know which side of the war you are on.
The Bush Administration is not sacred, and Bush is not the
"chosen one," despite what some of his supporters and staff
members are now whispering to reporters in the background.
There is no need to be "with him or against him" as a member
of Congress, and to think it might even be implied by the
daily spin issuing from Ari Fleischer's mouth is a true sign
of the depth to which this Administration has sunk.
Why are so many of you Senators and Representatives afraid
to question Bush? I'll tell you why. The reason is because
the Bush Administration is pushing every political action
and item on their unmandated agenda as an action supporting
Bush's War on Terrorism, and you are afraid of losing in the
coming elections because of being viewed as being unpatriotic
or weak on terror. They've attacked any questioning of Bush's
policies with a McCarthyistic scolding of one's loyalty to
this country, and you've sat silent and let them do it instead
of calling them on it.
At every opportunity, the right drills into the American
public the idea that we must support Bush and to do otherwise
would be unpatriotic, yet they never pulled behind Clinton
when he needed them to pass anti-terror bills or to support
him in his military actions. Instead he got threats from Jesse
Helms and open contempt from Trent Lott. I understand we are
a party of principles, but there is principle in standing
up for what is right when we have an Administration that gets
so much wrong.
The poll numbers have you all scared, which is an embarrassment
to any Democrat that has stood by the party through thick
and thin, defending its leadership against attacks from the
Greens for being just as bad as the Republicans. To base your
policies on an emotionally rigged game is short sighted and
paints the Democrats as being men and women of no ideals,
other than those popular at the moment.
Maybe I'm being too hard on the Democrats in Congress. The
Democratic Party has not been totally quiet about the Bush
Doctrine and the crackdown on dissent at home. Quite a few
Democrats have spoken out, but I haven't caught everyone's
names, so instead of possibly missing someone, I will just
compliment the Angry Democrats as a group for standing up
for our democratic ideals of free speech and dissent during
a time of being told to shut up, lest people think you support
terrorism. You shame the sleeping Democrats each time you
put yourself on the line to halt this encroachment on our
liberties with your words and deeds.
But the fact remains, Bush and his supporters have been playing
a game with you, and it is about time you started playing
your own game, or you might as well start calling yourselves
Republicans. Many of you are already being called Democrats
In Name Only behind your backs. In fact, some of you have
been so busy complimenting Bush that you have been unable
to hear the gasps of astonishment and cries of rage coming
from your supporters.
From out of one side of their mouth, the Republicans spew
overheated rhetoric about how we need to put aside partisan
politics and support Bush during this war, while out of the
other side of their mouth they dare to turn anything and everything
on their partisan agenda into an item necessary to support
the war effort.
There once was a popular game on the Internet called "6 Degrees
of Kevin Bacon," in which the object of the game was to try
to link any subject you could think of back to Kevin Bacon
within six steps. Many of the players would go to ridiculously
creative lengths to connect Bacon to the most outlandish subjects.
Bush has been playing a similar game with the Democrats in
Congress.
First everything was connected to his tax breaks, a game
Bush still finds time to play in the midst of his war occasionally.
These days, however, Bush is playing a game of degrees in
which every policy and every item on his agenda is connected
to supporting the War on Terrorism within a few steps. By
the Bush Administration's own actions, the war has become
a political issue, and it is about time the Democratic Party
realizes this and stops pretending otherwise.
I would like you to start playing a different game, it is
called "2 Degrees of Bush," and in that game you attempt to
find out how every Bush policy is linked back to his interests
in the energy sector, instead of terrorism. If Bush is going
to attempt to link everything under the sun to his War on
Terror, then the only way to counter his strategy is to link
those items right back to energy. If not, you will always
be on the defensive. Remember, turnabout is fair play in politics.
If you don't know all the shady connections between Bush's
War and his energy interests, then I suggest you do a little
digging on the Internet. The information is readily available
with any of the popular Web search engines. Just enter in
"Bush", "oil", and "pipeline" and run a search. When you are
equipped with the facts, "1 Degree of Bush" will be easy for
every Democrat to play because each and every one of his policies
really does feed back to those same energy interests that
put him in the White House, instead of Vice-President Gore.
But to be able to fight off the Republican Party's attacks,
the Democratic Party is going to have to stand up straight
and finally confront the right. And to be able to accomplish
that goal, the Democratic Party is going to have to stand
for something again. War was declared upon the left wing a
long time ago by the right wing -- a Cultural War. The right
wing has been attacking all of us on the left for the last
20 years. When will it be time to finally take off the gloves?
By letting the right walk all over the Democratic Party for
the past 20 years, those of you who have placated them instead
of standing up for us have helped to make the Democratic Party
an embarrassment, by your refusal to argue for the party's
ideals. Instead of seeing some of you fight for your party's
beliefs, I've seen the Democratic Party as a whole move more
and more to the right. It is time to put the breaks on more
than just the Bush Doctrine, it is time to stop moving to
the right or else the Democratic Party will look just like
moderate Republicans, and in that case I will be voting with
a third party, and so will many other Democrats I know.
You are running out of time because of the way you have been
handling politics as a group since the Selection and Post-9/11.
Pundits call you gutless and spineless, and it is getting
harder and harder for the Democrats I know and sympathize
with to defend you from their attacks. But that is not our
fault. It is hard to stand up for a Democrat in Republican's
clothing if you are one of the Democratic proud. Remember,
Vice-President Gore won the popular vote. Remember that; it
seems to have slipped some of your minds. There are a lot
of Angry Democrats who voted for Gore who have been feeling
ignored in your rush to embrace Bush. Please listen to them!
Please listen to us!
There are many of us Angry Democrats out there, if you just
would look for us. Do not be fooled by Bush's poll numbers.
Our voices are growing by the day with each hubristic action
the Bush Administration makes, and countless Anti-Bush sites
have been established on the Internet, despite Cheney's attempts
to buy all the Anti-Bush domain names in existence. Yet, for
the most part, you have ignored them. We are putting our lives
on the line by speaking out under the Patriot Act, and it
is time you join us. Reach out -- we are your supporters,
not the Republicans.
People will not vote for pseudo-Republicans in Nov. 2002
if they are looking for a hawkish politician - they'll vote
for the real thing, a Republican hawk instead of a Democrat
with Republican tendencies. Why vote for half of a hawk when
you can get the whole thing? It is time to stand for something
else than whatever is politically safe. You will lose to them
if you act like them.
Protests are taking root, and soon Bush will try to link
"the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition
the Government for a redress of grievances" to terrorism.
Moves have already been made to connect the Anti-Globalization
Movement to terrorism, so this leap of logic is not illogical.
Wherever there are protests against Bush or his war, I urge
you to join them. With the Democratic Party's support, the
Protest Movement will only grow.
You've shown your support for tracking down Osama bin Laden
to the American people, which should still continue. However,
while you have been supporting Bush's War on Terror, he has
moved on and discarded the original goal and set his sights
on Iraq, so he can finish his Father's work.
It is time for the Democratic Leadership to realize its base
is not the middle leaning to the right, or else you will start
to lose those of us who are still proud to call ourselves
liberals and progressives, despite the insults thrown at us
by the right wing. "Liberal" is not a scatological term and
it is time the Democratic Party accepts it back into its proper
place once again - in its heart and soul. It is time for the
Democratic Party to reach out for its base, and that base
does not love war or Bush.
In the name of world peace, I urge you to pick up a protest
sign now and join us on the front lines. We have been waiting
on you for a very long time now.
What is the Democratic Doctrine?
"I do know I'm ready for the job. And, if not, that's
just the way it goes." — George W. Bush, Aug. 21,
2000
Ever since 9/11 -- and for some of us, since we first heard
Bush announce his candidacy -- the American people have been
in a state of perpetual fear and the only solution offered
to them as a way out was the Bush Doctrine, a statement of
such galling, school-yard bullying it has been hard to accept
as being realistic from the very start. Without any life vest,
the public reached out for the first thing they thought would
keep them afloat. Without an alternative being offered by
the Democratic Leadership, they grabbed onto the Bush Doctrine
for dear life, callous to the fates of the innocent civilians
of Afghanistan who would pay with their lives, simply by being
born in the wrong country and at the wrong time.
But there is a way out from both the troubles abroad and
at home, but it is not going to be Bush who will lead this
country to sanity. It is the Democratic Party which will rise
to the occasion. It is time for the Democratic Doctrine.
What is the Democratic Doctrine? Well, just like Bush's Doctrine,
it is simple and easy to remember - peace and prosperity,
that is the Democratic Doctrine, not death and destruction,
like the Bush Doctrine. We had peace and prosperity not so
long ago.
If you are having trouble remembering what peace and prosperity
is like, in the midst of an illegal Bush regime, then just
ask President Clinton or Vice-President Gore. I'm sure they
will be happy to remind you of what it was like, and maybe,
if you ask nicely, they will remind Resident Bush and the
American people too.
It is now clear to me that the days of Clinton-smashing are
drawing to a close before our very eyes. Everywhere I look
in the media, commentators are calling the Bush Administration's
Mideast policy by such unflattering terms as "failure" and
"embarrassment." Bush is finally being called on his actions,
or rather, his inaction in the Mideast. It is his actions
people are appalled over now, not President Clinton's past
actions. One day soon, Bush's Mideast policy crisis will be
known as the Great Bush Failure, and that will make anything
Clinton did in his private life insignificant in comparison,
even to the right wing.
Bush has made an embarrassment of the U.S. on the world's
stage, and by your conspicuous silence, you are helping him
do it. We have all of our diplomatic credibility as a nation,
and after all these years of finger pointing at President
Clinton, it is now time to point right back at the man who
is directly to blame for our foreign policy nightmare.
Stand up for Peace and return us to Prosperity. Reject the
Bush Doctrine and the terror it brings the world, both abroad
and at home. This does not mean you have to be unpatriotic
or weak on terrorism, but it does mean you need to envision
an alternative to the Bush Doctrine.
Close your left flank, and embrace your base again, embrace
those who dare to think differently than the so-called majority
the supports Bush, embrace those the right attacks. It is
time to stop turning the other cheek. The Republican Party
keeps on slapping you and you keep on asking for more. Stand
up for the people who voted for you. Support us; we are getting
tired of supporting you while you support Bush and his way
of death.
George W. Bush, just like his father before him, lacks the
"vision thing." Present a vision of the future to the supporters
of your party, the citizens of this nation, and the people
of the world. Save us with a Democratic Doctrine of Peace
and Prosperity. Save us from the Bush Doctrine.
Permission freely granted to reproduce at will. Contact: hmullins612@comcast.net
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