It was while perusing the local paper over morning coffee that the essence
of the heartland flashed before me, brought forward by none the less personage
than a local lawyer.
This fellow, Lawyer X, is a nice enough, honest, as far as I know, and,
I dare say, devoted to
his family. It could even be said that he personifies the heartland and
what made us what we are today.
He is a devoted Republican and follower of George W. (I run from danger)
Bush.
You see, just as Lawyer X walked in I was pondering the question: How did
we get to where we are?
The answer flashed in blinding clarity; it was the day Lawyer X and his
ilk decided it was important to hate
Bill Clinton, to dance naked awash in the filth of Bush neo-Nazism, that
it was more important to live the lie
than deal with the reality.
This epiphany came the morning after Bush admitted there was no connection
between Saddam and 9/11.
This was the morning three days after Lawyer X had told me we had to invade
Iraq because of 9/11.
"Good morning," I smiled, "Did you see fearful leader admits to no connection
with 9/11?"
Lawyer X just laughed, smiled and replied, "You guys just keep punching
at him don't you."
"Bush said it," I didn't."
"Yeah, well, keep trying."
Thus it was, it didn't matter that Bush lied and thousands died. It didn't
matter if Bush and Cheney
parcel out Billions of tax dollars to their friends, that they are wrecking
the economy and a plethora of
other crimes of which we are not yet aware.
What matters to Lawyer X is his support for George W. Bush.
He doesn't really know why, but that he just must.
He and fellow travelers need their meanness fix. They need to feel they
are doing something to stop
all those "others" who are somehow harming them.
As an aside, Lawyer X, whose practice is mostly plaintiff work, routinely
votes for candidates who support
tort reform, just as blue collar workers support a president that wants
them to pay more taxes, get less
benefits and pay more for their children's education while his friends
reap tax breaks and incentives. Go figure.
Looking at Lawyer X, I now understand how we got to where we are:
Where the President of the United States tells the CIA they can execute
our citizens without warrant or
trial if they "suspect" they associate with people the CIA "believes" to
be associated with acts of terrorism,
as long as the killing takes place outside the U.S. and not too many civilians
are killed in the process.
Where we flaunt the Constitution while inprisoning people indefinitely
without access to lawyers or
being charged with a crime solely because we want to.
Where we establish our own gulag in a foreign country in order to avoid
our own laws.
Where the President lies to the American people, admits he lies and there
is no hue and cry for his removal.
Where we are more fearful of our neighbors than anyone else and enact silly,
draconian laws to protect us
from those we've known all our lives.
Where depriving children of health care is done gleefully in order to support
the occupation of another country,
for the sake of the principles we hold so dear.
Where we commit every blunder and sin we committed thirty years ago in
Vietnam and call it progress.
Where getting your child killed in order for multinationals to vacuum in
more tax dollars is considered patriotic.
Where we occupy a country in the name of freedom that does not want us
there, we don't speak the language,
trash their culture and pillar their religion while trying to establish
a puppet government against their will and all
international advice.
And now, it seems the Bush administration is willing to devour its own
by ousting a CIA agent as a revenge
measure against her husband. This is silly, stupid, juvenile and typical
of these people. Perhaps, it's only a
third rate leak.
These are only some of the things that brought us to where we are today,
now-----
Where are we going?
Write to Richard L. Fricker at rlfricker@hotmail.com