Sharing her experience
My step-mom sent me this e-mail today.... with her permission, I am sharing it.
Louise Slaughter just sent me an email asking my experience of the Bush Era. Thank you for asking Louise. Certainly Bush would never ask.
This led to an outpouring on my part, and you can delete it before reading if you choose, but here it is.
I have been intimidated into not speaking my mind without caution during this era. That is a deliberate strategy of this administration and it is a mistake. Bush’s track record has created an opportunity to end the era of his greater regime’s control (make no mistake that this regime wishes to maintain power beyond W's last personal term and wishes to make any other party "irrelevant"; examine Karl Rove's philosophy). It is incumbent upon all of us to think of how we can start moving in a better direction.
My experience of the Bush era has been a time of loss of civil rights, loss of right to privacy, and loss of protection of the common person's security and ability to live a sound life in American culture. All this in favor of protection of corporate excess and profits, moneyed cronyism, and co-opting of the religious right to claim moral high ground by those whose morality is, to me, in great question.
I am frustrated and frightened by the duplicity of this administration, which I believe is a regime that has taken over far greater control of the country than our democracy warrants. We now live in a nation that tries to coach its citizens that it is unpatriotic to question its leadership. To me, this is in direct opposition to the founders' intent in establishing freedom of speech. It is a harbinger of danger.
I am worried, and afraid. Not of foreign intruders, but of the invasion within of narrow minded, mediocre power mongers who have stunted vision and are throwing our nation's future into question. Yes, there are national security issues, but let’s deal with them in ways that increase national security and world-wide security, instead of using them as opportunities to put forth pre-existing agendas. That takes better minds than are now currently in power.
An ill-advised war has spent surpluses that could have been more wisely devoted to securing America's future, and plunged us into unparalleled debt. In the name of "national security" the nation has, in fact, been made more vulnerable: our actions have fueled the Muslim extremist world, wasted lives, and not solved problems.
The over-extension of our armed forces over-seas has left our domestic security in tatters, witness Katrina's horrifying results. Who would have thought that a disaster of this proportion would be met with the confused, fragmented, and wholly inadequate response that our federal government showed? Regardless of how the state and local governments responded, the federal government failed vastly. This, after our administration has been touting their gifts as guardians of our safety. Now we know that as part of the cronyism typical of the administration, a man whose experience was limited to commissioner of an Arabian horse association was watching over our disaster preparedness. Surely 911 taught us that more critical skills were required than that.
We need stronger, more capable leaders with greater integrity. We can change things if from top to bottom we demand more accountability, more courage, more vision, and stop swallowing whole the propaganda that allows us to proceed forward in our daily lives without examining the need for change.
What should we do? Here are my two cents: Speak out; reject the notion that we cannot express our views. Be brave enough to keep examining and pushing this country to be better. Be kind to people and do good wherever possible and show that progressive people are also people of integrity and good works. Conservatives don't own honor, faith, integrity, and good sense. That is a fabrication of a spin machine. Don't accept mediocrity in matters that affect the greater good. We can't afford to bury our heads in the sand. Vote, participate, and work until we make the tides change. Every pendulum turns. Our future and our children's future depends on it and Bush has given us clear opportunity to press for change.
Maybe now you wish you hit that delete button earlier :) Too late.
Lisa