Bush People
Guest Post by Jack
"We are Bush people." These are words my father felt compelled to utter last time I saw him over a year ago. He is not a dumb man. He is in fact a very educated man. He should know better than to believe in his own politics, which are right wing republican, though he would say that he is a moderate. He is in his late seventies, has been a republican his whole life and a staunch supporter of George Bush from the very beginning. I would guess if my father had a role model in the present government it would be Dick Cheney.
My father is not a bad man. In fact he is a very good man. But, over the past six years it has become more difficult to see my father. The reason is that every time I see anything that reminds me of George Bush, which is pretty much constantly, I get angry at my father. I get angry at my father because people like him put George Bush where he is, and George Bush's America reminds me of what I spent my childhood wanting to get away from--the authoritarian rule of my father's house.
With great inner turmoil I have decided to write my father a letter set forth in substance, though perhaps not verbatim, below. I am conflicted about sending it because candidly it may be a pretext for estrangement over lingering oedipal issues rather than a pure stance of principle. And yet the anger I feel towards my father and his ilk who support the Bush administration is real and it is constant, and I believe people like him, who have put this government where it is and enabled it, and who continue to do so, should have a price to pay, and account to all the rest of us.
Dear Dad,
As a result of recent events escalating the war in Iraq, it now seems timely to say a few things. I had hoped it would never be necessary. Such does not appear to be our good fortune.
I am disheartened by the present political landscape in this nation, the escalating state of senseless war and the consequent bitter divisions here in this country. I am disappointed that you are among the staunch supporters of the present government. The last time you visited you said among other things, "We are Bush People," and added too that you felt sorry for President Bush over criticism of his competence.
The obsequiousness of your loyalty to this administration is deeply troubling, smacks of submission to a cult of personality, blind obedience to misguided authority, and mocks any notion of freedom that I, as much an American as you, have ever understood. As for the sympathy you extend to Mr. Bush, I have never heard words of sympathy from you for the dead or for the loved ones of the dead, those dead because of Mr. Bush. I have never heard words of sympathy from you for the wounded or for the loved ones of the wounded, those wounded because of Mr. Bush.
You never fail to bring up your politics when we are together. Yet you know that I do not agree with your politics, and that our relationship is not such where we disagree jovially, or where we enjoy lively debate with one another. I know of no decent reason why you feel compelled to do this. It seems your need to do so is of a piece with and driven by an authoritarian nature, at one with the personality of this administration. An administration that like you always talks of patriotism and freedom, but by patriotism really means obedience to the free hand of like minded authority.
And by blindly following your like minded authority, where have you followed it? Indeed by following it where have you led us? You have led us into a war based on false premises and outright lies. A war that as wars always do, has brought death and misery, senseless goddam death and misery to untold tens of thousands here, in Iraq, and around the world. A world that was ours on September 12, 2001. A world that now hates us. Thanks to your president. Thanks to people like you.
Your president now seems determined to expand his war, if he can get away with it, into Iran, perhaps Syria too. Your president in fact seems to have in mind endless war, and endless death, and endless misery. There is nothing I can do to stop him. I can only hope that there are those with the power in Congress to stop him and who do in fact stop him.
But I can do my part. And that is to try and stop people like you. To stop you from enabling people like Mr. Bush. To stop your brand of patriotism and freedom from spreading. I would suggest first you tune out Fox News and Bill O'reilly and watch someone like Keith Olbermann. You might find out how different the world is from your own. I would suggest too that the next time you talk about freedom and patriotism, about how you feel sorry for Mr. Bush, or how you are Bush people, that you stop to consider whether you want your grandchildren to die in Iraq, or Iran, or Syria, or anywhere else that Mr. Bush would send them.
Do you really think Mr. Bush's wars, ever escalating, never-ending, can never touch you or your own? If you think that then you are not not only detached from reality, but you are also a shallow hypocrite, a false patriot, whose support for the troops is displayed by safely sacrificing their blood, but not the blood of your own.
But let me give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that you are neither detached from reality nor a false patriot. Let me give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that you would indeed sacrifice the blood of your grandchildren for the wars of Mr. Bush. What then must your grandchildren think of you, of your patriotism, of your idea of freedom? What must your grand children's parents, your children, think of you, of your patriotism, of your idea of freedom? I suggest you find out, look them all in the eye, and explain it to them. Explain to them why their sacrifice will be necessary for your brand of patriotism, for your idea of freedom.
You already know what I think of your patriotism, of your idea of freedom. So until you rethink a few things, I will not be seeing you anymore. Don't ask when I am coming to visit. Don't ask to come visit me. Since you love freedom so much, you will now be free of me. As a patriot you no doubt know that freedom has its price and as such will gladly pay it. But if it seems overly harsh or too much to bear, remind yourself that you are getting off easy. I am still alive. The children of thousands are dead. Because of Mr. Bush. Because of people like you.
Love,
Your Not So Obedient Son.
"We are Bush people." These are words my father felt compelled to utter last time I saw him over a year ago. He is not a dumb man. He is in fact a very educated man. He should know better than to believe in his own politics, which are right wing republican, though he would say that he is a moderate. He is in his late seventies, has been a republican his whole life and a staunch supporter of George Bush from the very beginning. I would guess if my father had a role model in the present government it would be Dick Cheney.
My father is not a bad man. In fact he is a very good man. But, over the past six years it has become more difficult to see my father. The reason is that every time I see anything that reminds me of George Bush, which is pretty much constantly, I get angry at my father. I get angry at my father because people like him put George Bush where he is, and George Bush's America reminds me of what I spent my childhood wanting to get away from--the authoritarian rule of my father's house.
With great inner turmoil I have decided to write my father a letter set forth in substance, though perhaps not verbatim, below. I am conflicted about sending it because candidly it may be a pretext for estrangement over lingering oedipal issues rather than a pure stance of principle. And yet the anger I feel towards my father and his ilk who support the Bush administration is real and it is constant, and I believe people like him, who have put this government where it is and enabled it, and who continue to do so, should have a price to pay, and account to all the rest of us.
Dear Dad,
As a result of recent events escalating the war in Iraq, it now seems timely to say a few things. I had hoped it would never be necessary. Such does not appear to be our good fortune.
I am disheartened by the present political landscape in this nation, the escalating state of senseless war and the consequent bitter divisions here in this country. I am disappointed that you are among the staunch supporters of the present government. The last time you visited you said among other things, "We are Bush People," and added too that you felt sorry for President Bush over criticism of his competence.
The obsequiousness of your loyalty to this administration is deeply troubling, smacks of submission to a cult of personality, blind obedience to misguided authority, and mocks any notion of freedom that I, as much an American as you, have ever understood. As for the sympathy you extend to Mr. Bush, I have never heard words of sympathy from you for the dead or for the loved ones of the dead, those dead because of Mr. Bush. I have never heard words of sympathy from you for the wounded or for the loved ones of the wounded, those wounded because of Mr. Bush.
You never fail to bring up your politics when we are together. Yet you know that I do not agree with your politics, and that our relationship is not such where we disagree jovially, or where we enjoy lively debate with one another. I know of no decent reason why you feel compelled to do this. It seems your need to do so is of a piece with and driven by an authoritarian nature, at one with the personality of this administration. An administration that like you always talks of patriotism and freedom, but by patriotism really means obedience to the free hand of like minded authority.
And by blindly following your like minded authority, where have you followed it? Indeed by following it where have you led us? You have led us into a war based on false premises and outright lies. A war that as wars always do, has brought death and misery, senseless goddam death and misery to untold tens of thousands here, in Iraq, and around the world. A world that was ours on September 12, 2001. A world that now hates us. Thanks to your president. Thanks to people like you.
Your president now seems determined to expand his war, if he can get away with it, into Iran, perhaps Syria too. Your president in fact seems to have in mind endless war, and endless death, and endless misery. There is nothing I can do to stop him. I can only hope that there are those with the power in Congress to stop him and who do in fact stop him.
But I can do my part. And that is to try and stop people like you. To stop you from enabling people like Mr. Bush. To stop your brand of patriotism and freedom from spreading. I would suggest first you tune out Fox News and Bill O'reilly and watch someone like Keith Olbermann. You might find out how different the world is from your own. I would suggest too that the next time you talk about freedom and patriotism, about how you feel sorry for Mr. Bush, or how you are Bush people, that you stop to consider whether you want your grandchildren to die in Iraq, or Iran, or Syria, or anywhere else that Mr. Bush would send them.
Do you really think Mr. Bush's wars, ever escalating, never-ending, can never touch you or your own? If you think that then you are not not only detached from reality, but you are also a shallow hypocrite, a false patriot, whose support for the troops is displayed by safely sacrificing their blood, but not the blood of your own.
But let me give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that you are neither detached from reality nor a false patriot. Let me give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that you would indeed sacrifice the blood of your grandchildren for the wars of Mr. Bush. What then must your grandchildren think of you, of your patriotism, of your idea of freedom? What must your grand children's parents, your children, think of you, of your patriotism, of your idea of freedom? I suggest you find out, look them all in the eye, and explain it to them. Explain to them why their sacrifice will be necessary for your brand of patriotism, for your idea of freedom.
You already know what I think of your patriotism, of your idea of freedom. So until you rethink a few things, I will not be seeing you anymore. Don't ask when I am coming to visit. Don't ask to come visit me. Since you love freedom so much, you will now be free of me. As a patriot you no doubt know that freedom has its price and as such will gladly pay it. But if it seems overly harsh or too much to bear, remind yourself that you are getting off easy. I am still alive. The children of thousands are dead. Because of Mr. Bush. Because of people like you.
Love,
Your Not So Obedient Son.
posted at 10:55 AM PERMALINK
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