Complaining about People Who Complain about Bush
By Mike Hersh, Feb 25, 2005

I wrote this to answer someone who was complaining about people who complain about Bush. The complainer realized that Bush is already intimidating Iran, and said "[If] rumors about a war in Iran prove true" then we should emulate the Ukraine protestors and take to the streets. Will Bush attack Iran? In public statements, Dick Cheney hinted at plans to attack Iran "on the top of [Bush's] list" and experts like David Kay and Scott Ritter have voiced grave concerns about another rush to war already underway.

We can't wait until war starts to start opposing it. By the time the planes start bombing, it's too late to stop it - much less get organized. The time for action is now because Bush keeps bullying the planet and any Americans who disagree with his immoral, illegal, and extreme policies. Some would even say fascist policies. What do I mean by that? He and his supporters accuse anyone who opposes them of treason / not supporting the troops etc. They run ads comparing good decent, and moderate people - even military veterans like Tom Daschle and Max Cleland - to Osama bin Laden and other terrorists for disagreeing with something the Bush regimes wants to do.

Here's my political thought: most people vote against liberalism and progress because of misconceptions intentionally fostered by right wing elected officials, their PR army and media empires, various think tanks and round tables, while liberals and progressive routinely sit back perplexed. What can we do about it? To start we have to get peoples' attention, tell them the facts, and get in the faces of the right wingers who mislead and lie to people. Some liberals and progressive complain that this is "sinking to their level" - it isn't. It's not "fighting fire with fire." It's just fighting.

Speaking of fire, enflaming hate against elected officials and bigotry against gays to get votes - Republican staples - encourages extremism and even violence. Using racism to throw Black people off voting lists in Ohio and Florida is a shameful throw-back to an ugly period in US history most of us hoped would never return. Republicans increase division and keep hate alive when they should try to unite these states of America and increase hope. Instead, they exploit and foment bigotry for their partisan political advantage. These Republican tactics are clearly immoral and wrong, but some Republican partisans get even worse!

People who oppose Bush face death threats and even violent attacks from Bush supporters. I know people who get threatening phone calls and death threats with bullets attached to them. Some Bush supporters shoot at the Dixie Chicks' homes just because one of these women dared to offer her opinion, in opposition to Bush.

Rather than call off these criminals, Bush encourages their terrorist tactics saying "there are consequences" when people say things. Bush should say "if you support me, do not use or threaten to use violence. Do not break the law in my name." How hard would it be to say something like that? Too hard for Bush. Instead, he tacitly supports domestic terrorism by his ardent supporters. Bush and his political allies and operatives use hate and pretend dissent and political opposition are treason and terrorism which encourages more hate and violence.

Bush is hateful. If you tell the truth about Bush, you have to say things that seem hateful, but it's not. Any more than reporting a murder IS murder. We report Bush's hate and crimes and lies. We cannot do so without explaining the horrible things he's doing. So I understand your message, but you assume so many things that aren't true. You mistake our passion for truth and justice with "hate." You also assume that strongly opposing and even insulting Bush is based on some kind of dislike or grudge or whim.

This is not about people who "hate" Bush. It's about the people Bush hates and what he's doing to us. We oppose Bush because he is cruel, selfish, ignorant and wrong. We say he sucks and other harsh things because of all the harsh things he does which hurt and even kill 1000s of innocent people. It's not that we don't like him personally. Some of us do and others don't. To be accurate, almost none of us know him personally, and that's beside the point.

Dissent is basic American patriotism. It's not about "hate" even when people say they "hate" Bush. It's all about how right wing policies keep harming innocent people, ruining our economy, and threatening to do much worse. Over and above everything else anyone may think, this is all about wanting a better world. It's painfully obvious that means opposing and halting most of what Bush is trying to do.

Too much of what Bush and his Administration and allies are doing hurts and kills real people. We all know how his rush to invade Iraq when the peaceful means were working is still getting Americans killed - and killing even more innocent Iraq men, women and children. That's bad enough, but there's more. Bush may mislead us into another war.

Bush's lax air pollution policy is killing Americans. Back in 1999 and 200 I knew and told people who Bush's policies put polluters on the "honor system" in Texas. Children and older people with asthma and other vulnerabilities choked to death in Texas thanks to Bush policies, and he took his criminally negligent policies nation-wide because he always puts profits above people. This is happening right now and it's just one more examples of Bush killing people through recklessness, ignorance, and bad priorities - at best.

What if Americans did what outraged citizens did in Ukraine? Some think Bush's thugs would round us up people and hold us without trial. Bush appointed pro-torture extremist as his new Attorney General. His last Attorney General didn't believe in the right to an attorney or even the right to contact your family if the Bush people suspect you or accuse you of opposing the USA - by which they mean opposing Bush.

Bush appointed a "diplomat" known for condoning death squads to run our entire national intelligence including the FBI and CIA, bringing together the full force of secret police power to bear in the hand of someone who looked the other way when government gangs in Latin America slaughtered innocents. If this doesn't frighten you, you're not paying attention.

True just complaining isn't enough, but millions of Americans support or even defend Bush and too many others don't even bother to complain about all this. We need more than just a whispering campaign or polite cocktail party patter. Our way of life and cherished institutions hang in the balance. I'm sick of people going along with all of this without complaining, protesting, and getting active. What do I mean by that?

The big picture is "the truth shall set them free." We have to tell the truth in every way we can to inform and educate. We have to inform people who don't understand the threat from Bush and his operatives. Different people are comfortable with different approaches. Some are quiet and sweet. Some, like me, tried that and found it wasn't working.

Don't get me wrong. I prefer amicable discussions with respectful people. I didn't just dismiss the gentle approach out of hand. I defended meek and mild Democrats for years, and when their methods lost ground in 2000, 2002, and 2004, I decided to try something else that might actually work. After all, most Democrats and liberals sweet-talked for years and look where we are now. This is because the right wing isn't respectful or honorable. They're not interested in working with us, they want to demolish us. Don't take my word for it, just listen to them call you a traitor, a wimp, pro-terrorist, anti-American....

Bush and his appointees, allies and operatives keep bullying the planet and any Americans who disagree with his immoral, illegal, and extreme policies. He won't stop unless and until we make him stop. He have to make him stop, and that means sometimes we have to be impolite.

We have to work against right wing control of government and the media, and the tendency of people to dismiss us or ignore us if they don't hear and see the truth on the radio and TV, in print, etc. We have to call the media on their bias, mistakes, laziness and lies. Look at the Media Watch Project www.democrats.com/media to get started there.

To overcome right wing money, power, and ruthlessness we have to stay strong and focused. We must get on the radio and TV as call-ins and guests, in print with letters to the editor, and display buttons, stickers, shirts and more with slogans to get the word out.

We have to organize, work, raise money, and keep moving ahead. We have to get members of Congress to hold hearings on Bush's abuses re: Iraq and other things. We must push the media to investigate. Not all of them are sell-outs and cowards. We have a huge job ahead, and it will take tremendous work. We can do it, because we have to. There's no alternative.

© Copyright 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 by MikeHersh.com and identified authors. MikeHersh.com invites you to broadcast any material at this site, provided you identify the source as MikeHersh.com. All print, Internet, email and other summaries, excerpts or other written reproductions must include this blurb and a link to http://www.MikeHersh.com.