Wednesday, June 8, 2005 | ||
Bad Links? | Conservative? Bush? Check again
By MICHAEL J. THOMPSON As I covered the Peachtree City Memorial Day celebration last week, it was disheartening to see such a small turnout at the First Presbyterian Church to honor the veterans. True, the weather wasnt necessarily conducive, but the relative small crowd was punctuated by the age of those in attendance. The majority were easily over 60. Few young faces. In a town such as Peachtree City, where nearly every other car has a George W. Bush sticker placed neatly on its bumper, you would think a few more people would show up to an event that honors those who have served their nation in military combat, some by sacrificing their lives for our freedom. Since they support a president who has sent hundreds of thousands of troops to Afghanistan and then to Iraq to find WMDs that pose a threat to the U.S. wait, topple an evil dictator, wait, fight the war on terror, wait, plant the seeds of democracy, wait, bring freedom to every disenfranchised person the world over, wait, why are we there? logically, you would think they would show up in droves to an event honoring those men and women who are currently doing the fighting and dying for us, and those who already did. But, no, just by having the infamous W-The President, sticker on your vehicle automatically grants you access to the super-patriot club. No need to pay lip-service to veterans, for you possess the supreme trump card of patriotism that automatically tells everyone of your utter contempt for liberals, blind devotion to the president and complete approval to the destruction of foreign nations in the name of democracy and the spreading of freedom. At the university I attend, Ive long been amazed at the copious amounts of stickers that are present on fellow students cars. I sometimes wonder if they support the man because he is perceived as the prototypical Republican: the pro-family, pro-business, anti-abortion, anti-gay-marriage kind of guy. A closer look at Bush shows us something else. As our president actively works to make the Middle East over by invading and occupying nations there, hes actively working to make the U.S. over by doing precisely nothing about the continued invasion and colonizing of our nation by millions of illegal aliens, 90 percent of which are Mexican. Through the PATRIOT Act and the continued suspension of civil liberties in the name of fighting of terror, Bush is working to curtail our freedoms at home. A true conservative like former Rep. Bob Barr even wrote that provisions of the Patriot Act go far beyond fighting terrorism and undermine our constitutional freedoms and Fourth Amendment rights. Big government programs like the No Child Left Behind Act are a slap in the face to conservatives who wish to see the role of the federal government downsized. The NCLB is also insanely unrealistic and utopian in its premise of closing the racial gap in academic achievement. When Bush said in his second inaugural address, So it is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world, somewhere, Woodrow Wilson smiled. For he has found a host for his vision of the world in 1918, in the guise of a conservative president in the 21st century. Bushs outlined goals are revolutionary, the antithesis of conservatism. Pat Buchanan famously quipped, What are conservatives trying to conserve? I have long thought the same. My dictionary defines conserve as to keep in a safe or sound state; to preserve. Precisely what U.S. military veterans that we honor on Memorial Day did, and still do. Or at least try and do. Its the politicians who muddle things up. So all of you with those nauseating W stickers on your car, next time you see a veteran, thank them. For theyre the true conservatives. They put their lives on the line to ensure that the U.S. Constitution they swore to uphold and protect would live on. That is the true essence of conserve. |
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