It's Worse Than I Ever Imagined

When George Bush was selected president, I was not happy. In fact, I seriously considered moving out of the country. Canada was not an option because it’s always cold there. I considered Mexico, but I don’t speak the language. If I could have come up with a reasonable alternative, I might not still be here. But I also decided I would not allow the collective stupidity of those who voted for the man and the Supreme Court justices who selected him to drive me from the country that I love.

I didn’t agree with him politically, but at least I thought that he shared my reverence for the ideals upon which this nation was founded, especially the rule of law and the idea that no one man or woman was above it or beyond its reach. But actions do speak louder than words, something that this man who billed himself as a ‘compassionate conservative’ has shown us over and over again.

Over the first months of his reign of terror, I began to see just how much damage this man was planning to do to our country. Remember the energy bill that was written in secret by Darth Cheney and the corporations? That was the first significant indication of just how this administration was planning to handle the public’s business – by keeping the public in the dark. But I never imagined that even he would go so far. Since the attacks of 9/11, almost all of the focus of the public and, to a lesser extent, the media was focused on the conduct of the war in Afghanistan and then Iraq. Meanwhile, no one seemed to be keeping an eye on what these people were doing elsewhere. Now, finally, these things are coming to light.

One of my favorite programs on NPR is This American Life. Each week they choose a theme and then do as many as five stories on that theme. Last week’s program was called The Audacity of Government. On their Web site they describe it thus:

“Stories of the Bush Administration, its unique style of asserting presidential authority, and its quest to redefine the limits of presidential power.”

Basically, the Bush Administration has made it a practice to fight policies, laws, treaties they do not agree with by ignoring them. They simply act as if these instruments do not exist. And this is not in areas where one might expect it, such as their attempts to violate our privacy in the name of fighting the ‘war on terror.’ As the pieces in this story will show, their audacity and hubris extends far beyond that, to the point where we all should be concerned about the fate of our democracy. I can't urge that you listen to this strongly enough. I shows more clearly than anything else I have come across that we are on the cusp of something here. And if we don't force, if necessary, our elected officials to make the right choices, we will be witnesses to the destruction of our republic. You can listen to it on Web site via the link above or download the podcast from iTunes for free. But please do listen.

My only hope is that now that the American people have begun to see behind the masks worn by those who would threaten our way of life, that they will finally, at long last rise up and put a stop to it. It’s not too late. But if we don’t act soon, the country left to the next generations will bear little to no resemblance to the one that I loved.