Monday, August 16, 2004
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A44160-2004Aug5.html
This was reprinted in The Day of New London, CT in their Sunday, August 15 edition. First published in the Washington Post on August 5.
I just had to reply. Not sure if it will make it in the newspaper but in any case, here it is.
To the editor:
Gary Alan Fine’s The Politics Of Hatred (Op-ed, The Day, August 15) suggests that the hatred of President Bush by so many Americans is an outgrowth of Bush’s follies during his charmed youth.
He says the Bush Administration is “free from scandals” (What! Billions in ‘no bid’ contracts, huge cost-overruns and secret energy deals) and actually credit’s the president for not eliminating various federal programs such as the National Endowment for the Arts. (A classic example of using a negative to promote a positive. That he‘s not held up a liquor store is commendable, but not reason to like the chap.)
Fine and other apologists for the president, is playing the a variation on the class warfare theme. The logic goes like this. If you oppose the president then you must be “for” the terrorists and not a “true” American patriot. Opponents of the president have sunk into the depths of class hatred. Since hatred is an emotion and not an intellectual exercise, their views are misguided and should be ignored.
Hate is a strong word and I suspect is over used in this instance. But let’s look at it this way. What’s to “like” about President Bush and his record in office?
We’re at war with no end in sight. The reasons for the starting the war, as even Bush patriots are beginning to admit, are at best controversial if not based on outright lies.
We’re broke. The piper is starting to demand payment now and federal deficits stretch into the future as far as the bean-counters can see.
We’ve blown our good name among most of the people on the planet. We cuddle up to the Saudi’s and our government is viewed by others with a mixture of fear and distain.
We’re divide (red and blue states) and Bush has done nothing to ease these divisions or to seek common ground.
Our national parks are in a dramatic state of decline.
We’ve no energy policy worthy of the name.
Our military is so depleted it has forced soldiers to stay in past their discharge. (As a former Army Sergeant I can say with some expertise that this is unlikely to stimulate future recruitment and retention.)
Tax burdens have shifted from the wealthy to the middle class and poor. (Republican suggestion for a national sales tax will only increase the income percentage paid by the non-rich on gas, utilities, goods and services.)
Schools have cut teachers, books, classes and many have started to charge parents so their children can play football, take music or join the chess club. (This is directly related to the shifting tax revenues back onto local and state governments)
Our transportation system resembles a third world country and the nation’s environmental policy consists of “hoping” things don’t get too hot or too dirty too soon.
The 9/11 commission (a commission Bush opposed) politely (in the interests of unanimity), suggested that Bush and his cadre of intelligence and foreign policy experts were fiddling while terrorists were planning the burnings of New York and Washington. And Bush says we’re safer today.
No, this is not the politics of hatred. It is the politics of reality. Tens of millions of Americans have taken a look at Bush and his achievements. We don’t hate the man. We hate the things he had done. More important, we love our country.
Peter Roberts
New London, CT
Newenglandwow.com
This was reprinted in The Day of New London, CT in their Sunday, August 15 edition. First published in the Washington Post on August 5.
I just had to reply. Not sure if it will make it in the newspaper but in any case, here it is.
To the editor:
Gary Alan Fine’s The Politics Of Hatred (Op-ed, The Day, August 15) suggests that the hatred of President Bush by so many Americans is an outgrowth of Bush’s follies during his charmed youth.
He says the Bush Administration is “free from scandals” (What! Billions in ‘no bid’ contracts, huge cost-overruns and secret energy deals) and actually credit’s the president for not eliminating various federal programs such as the National Endowment for the Arts. (A classic example of using a negative to promote a positive. That he‘s not held up a liquor store is commendable, but not reason to like the chap.)
Fine and other apologists for the president, is playing the a variation on the class warfare theme. The logic goes like this. If you oppose the president then you must be “for” the terrorists and not a “true” American patriot. Opponents of the president have sunk into the depths of class hatred. Since hatred is an emotion and not an intellectual exercise, their views are misguided and should be ignored.
Hate is a strong word and I suspect is over used in this instance. But let’s look at it this way. What’s to “like” about President Bush and his record in office?
We’re at war with no end in sight. The reasons for the starting the war, as even Bush patriots are beginning to admit, are at best controversial if not based on outright lies.
We’re broke. The piper is starting to demand payment now and federal deficits stretch into the future as far as the bean-counters can see.
We’ve blown our good name among most of the people on the planet. We cuddle up to the Saudi’s and our government is viewed by others with a mixture of fear and distain.
We’re divide (red and blue states) and Bush has done nothing to ease these divisions or to seek common ground.
Our national parks are in a dramatic state of decline.
We’ve no energy policy worthy of the name.
Our military is so depleted it has forced soldiers to stay in past their discharge. (As a former Army Sergeant I can say with some expertise that this is unlikely to stimulate future recruitment and retention.)
Tax burdens have shifted from the wealthy to the middle class and poor. (Republican suggestion for a national sales tax will only increase the income percentage paid by the non-rich on gas, utilities, goods and services.)
Schools have cut teachers, books, classes and many have started to charge parents so their children can play football, take music or join the chess club. (This is directly related to the shifting tax revenues back onto local and state governments)
Our transportation system resembles a third world country and the nation’s environmental policy consists of “hoping” things don’t get too hot or too dirty too soon.
The 9/11 commission (a commission Bush opposed) politely (in the interests of unanimity), suggested that Bush and his cadre of intelligence and foreign policy experts were fiddling while terrorists were planning the burnings of New York and Washington. And Bush says we’re safer today.
No, this is not the politics of hatred. It is the politics of reality. Tens of millions of Americans have taken a look at Bush and his achievements. We don’t hate the man. We hate the things he had done. More important, we love our country.
Peter Roberts
New London, CT
Newenglandwow.com
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