Giving America the Bush It Prayed For

[Guest guest]

By Miles Hochstein of Portland, Oregon. Miles Hochstein is a writer and

photographer who lives a documented life.

President Bush calls for unity after the election but of course that means

unity on Republican terms. I, like most who did not vote for him or for the

ideology that he represents, am uninterested and unmoved. I say to President

Bush I hope you get everything you want, because your success, and the

misery I believe you will inflict, are the path to the awakening of the

American public. Don't compromise with me, or the feeble left in this

country, please! You have the power, you take the responsibility. Let's see

how America feels about it in four years.

Of course I don't believe for a moment that Bush really intends, with his

popular vote " mandate " and increased control of two houses of Congress, to

actually bow to the center or left or adopt positions that would foster

national unity. That is just empty rhetoric. We've seen these folks' hearts,

and what they did with their questionable 2000 mandate. The call for unity

should be met by Democratic leadership with a polite " Thanks but no thanks.

You have the power, so you do it your way. " The Democrats and the left in

general need to rethink their own approach, rejoice in the support of almost

half the voters, and not get co-opted by Bush's approach.

And in fact there are in fact some good reasons to be " not unhappy " about a

Bush victory.

1) Kerry won't have to deal with and won't be held responsible for Iraq.

Really, Kerry's Presidency was bound to be a disaster, in which he would

have been blamed for a war that he approved and vowed to fight more

effectively than the President. He might have done a better job at it than

Bush, but it still would have been a disaster for him and our country. Now

it still will be a disaster, but for Bush and our country. While America

doesn't deserve that disaster, Bush certainly does.

2) Kerry won't have to deal with the deficit through taxation or cuts.

Instead, Bush and company will have to reap the fruits of their

irresponsible budget busting policies. Really, Kerry can thank God he doesn

t have that one on his plate. He doesn't deserve to have it. Those who

created the policies can deal with the consequences, and we can help the

public see the relationships between the policies and consequences.

3) Kerry won't be held responsible for the next big terror attack, which is

very likely to occur in the next four years. Of course Bush will use that

attack to advance his agenda again, but still and all, it will be good to

remind America that all the national security and police state measures we

take can't keep America perfectly safe. Maybe America will even ask itself

why major terrorist attacks keep happening on Bush's watch?

4) Let it ripen. In general, those of us who believe that the problems

created by Bush are deep and structural, can take comfort in the likelihood

that they are likely to worsen under this man and his policies. The country

really hasn't tasted true conservatism of the Bush variety yet. Now it will

and we'll see how it likes it. We can foresee severe restrictions on

abortion. A strengthened internal domestic security apparatus and reduced

civil liberties. Environmental damage. The completion of the merger of

corporate America with the government in Washington (that's a form a

marriage that I'd like to ban!) An unresolved health care cost crisis and

health insurance crisis. A looming economic crisis as foreigners reduce

their purchases of American debt, perhaps sooner than we think.

So I, in a perverse way, am looking forward to seeing how bad it gets, and

how Americans feel about it when they get what they think they want from

Bush. (I also mourn for those who stand to be injured in the coming four

years.)

Of course Bush will also deliver the symbols that people seem to love, God,

flag, evangelical Christian language, nationalism and apple pie rhetoric. He

ll supply all the sugar needed to help the medicine (and poison) go down.

Good! Let him continue to talk like that. Let people really feel the

relationship between the sweet language of God and the deprivations produced

by the policies of those who speak politically in the name of God. Let

America have what it voted for, and let America have it for another four

years. Let's see how America feels about it then.

Yes, I wanted Kerry to win, but a Kerry victory would have been premature. I

m not an historical materialist in the old leftist sense, but there is truth

in the idea that history has a certain measure of logic and structure.

Sometimes the world just needs to ripen. These will be a hard four years,

but we will know which party is responsible for the hardships, and in 2008

we'll just see how America feels about it, and whether it is ready to do

something about it.

 

http://www.blueoregon.com/2004/11/giving_america_.html

 

" I pledge of allegiance to the Earth and all the life which it supports, one

planet in our care, irreplaceable with sustenance and respect for all "

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