Time to divide for the common good
The historic 2004 election has come and gone. And after one of
the most bitter elections that further polarized a divided America,
it is time to find common ground.
George W. Bush has called on Americans, Democrats and elephants
alike to follow his lead as he promises to reach out to those who
voted for John Kerry.
Malarkey.
Non-Bushites need to stay divided. No compromise. Do not let go
of your disappointment. Do not follow George W. Bush’s lead during
his second term. Hold onto your anger. Let your disdain grow and
fester.
In 2000 Bush won his first election by a glitch in an archaic
system we call the Electoral College. Bush didn’t have a mandate
and didn’t win the support of most Americans – 543,895 more people
voted for Al Gore.
But that little fact didn’t stop Bush from shoving his agenda
down our evenly divided throats. His tax cuts benefited only his
constituency base: the frequently cited top 1 percent of income
earners. However, and despite the middle class not realizing the
benefits of the tax cuts, Bush somehow convinced his middle-class
sheep the cuts have helped us all.
Bush, spinsters and Republican think tanks have claimed the cuts
helped the middle class and even provided figures to create truth,
but an extra $300-$400 dollars is not going to help the middle
class when little things, such as health care, are more expensive
than ever. Once more, Bush’s economic policy has stifled job
growth, which is the most important element of middle-class
economics.
After having a unified America (and world) for a few months
after Sept. 11, 2001, Bush divided the country by starting a
sans-cerebral war in Iraq. Bush hastily waged a war using
cowboy-fueled testosterone rather than reason and logic that would
have helped him avoid some of the problems this war has presented,
and helped avoid the polarization to which the war is credited.
The gay marriage issue probably tilted the election to Bush’s
favor, as the fear of homosexuality mobilized the mass of social
busybodies. While Bush can’t carry the dishonorable distinction of
bringing this polarizing issue to the forefront – actually, we can
thank our district’s representative and author of the Federal
Marriage Amendment, Marilyn Musgrave – Bush used this division to
assist his reelection.
Time after time Bush has claimed he is a moderate, unifier or a
compassionate conservative, and time after time he has proved
himself a stubborn conservative willing to impose his policies on
us all – even in a highly divided political climate.
Bush only calls for unification to make his policies easier to
pass and more widely accepted. There is no compromise in his
message, only assimilation to his ideology. Bush doesn’t care about
compromising his policies to benefit the other 50 percent of
America any more than he is interested in legalizing gay marriage
so he can marry Saddam Hussein.
So be a roadblock. Resist Bush and the Republican machine with
every ounce of will in your body. We must stay true to ourselves
and fight for what is right because if we silently follow Bush’s
lead our needs will be forgotten just like they have been in the
past.
To Bush’s supporters our resistance sounds like whining or sour
grapes. Some call liberals, Democrats and Kerry supporters sore
losers. That language, and its ignorant premise, reduces what
happened Nov. 2 to nothing more than a football game. This election
wasn’t the Super Bowl and elections aren’t a team sport designed to
make winners. Nov. 2 is about an evenly divided country being
subjected to one-sided policy.
Don’t be silent. Resist. Defy.
Vince Adams is a graduate student studying English. His columns
run on Wednesdays in the Collegian.
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