Why Weren't the Conservatives Screaming Under Bush?

By Rowan Wolf

Across the country there is a vocal minority who are loudly protesting certain issues. We have the "birther" folks who think that Obama is not a natural born citizen of the United States. We have the "deathers" (including Sarah Palin) who apparently think the government is going to use health care reform to kill the old and disabled. Then we have the anti-healthcare reformers who have a bucketfull of confusion and fears about socialism, fascism, and losing their "choice" in healthcare. All seem to be being spurred on by corporate backed "astroturf" organizations and by a few unethical media mouths.

Now the citizens showing up screaming at "tea bag" parties, and town halls are clearly angry and afraid. The Republican politicians do little but fuel their concerns that Obama (Democrats) and "government," are taking on outrageous powers, and ruining the Constitution and the country.

I just have one question.

Where were these people and their concerns when George W. Bush and Company were forging the Unitary Executive?

I can tell you where they were. They were cheering BushCo. on. They were shouting "America, love it or leave it." They were calling those that were concerned about the shift of power to the Executive branch, and the deliberate refusal to any oversight of their actions, "terrorists" and "communists" and "conspiracy nuts." Some even loudly proclaimed that all us "kooks" should be locked up in Gitmo or killed.

These were the folks, who despite evidence of being lied into a war, and lied to about covert surveillance of Americans and a policy of torture, said "My country. Right or wrong, my country." Or even argued forcefully for the rightness of the authority Bush was taking, and for the tearing up of Constitutional protections to make us safe.

What has changed from their purported perspective? We are still at war. We are still under threat of terrorism at home and abroad. Al Qaeda is still operating, and new foes have arisen. Iran and North Korea are still defined as active nuclear threats. If these threats were what legitimated the embrace of power by the Bush administration, those conditions still exist.

If there was any consistency to the ideology of the right wing screamers, then they would not be screaming. Or if they are screaming now, they should have been screaming then.

If there was any consistency to the REPUBLICAN party line, then they should have been in outright revolt under George W. Bush. Not only was there not revolt, they were in lock-step supporting every abuse of power and shredding of the Constitution.

To say the least, all of this is disingenuous, but it is more than that. It is posing, fomenting, and manipulation of folks who are willing to be manipulated.

I am sick of the duplicity. I am sick of the lying. I am sick to death of the hatefulness of the fueling of people's fears to make them shock troops for corporate and party interests.

I'm just sick of the whole thing.

I have no idea how one addresses this insanity - for that is what it is. There are those who are the manipulators - the creators of lies and rhetoric - and they are serving their own ends. They know clearly what they are doing and are quite comfortable doing it. If they change, it will be for personal events that touch their lives. Then you have the people who are swayed and fueled by them. They have belief systems that frame their world providing a lens that consistently focuses one way. They will believe the manipulators, but there is no way through evidence or information to get them to reflect on that ideology. Evidence and information which conflicts with the ideology are just lies.

The manipulators have been pumping the rhetoric bellows overtime to fuel some people's fear and anger. They run the risk of pushing more people over the line into physical violence. I seriously doubt they are concerned about this. Why? Because the people's lives do not matter to them. At best, we are abstractions and certainly expendable. So a few folks get maimed or killed, and those actors also end up jailed or dead. All those lives are acceptable losses in the big struggle for power. There are many side benefits to the hate and the chaos. It raises questions among the non-extreme, and it intimidates many into silence. It hamstrings actual discussion and debate thereby strengthening the power of the rhetoric.

The only course of action is to be as honest as possible and to try to offer fact and information. For those who try to be informed, this will work. For those who avoid being informed, whatever they hear the most is what they are likely to believe. Therefore, doing the best we can to keep the mainstream media semi-accurate is perhaps the best we can do.

Perhaps the primary thing it is important to keep in mind is that people are people. Most of those who think that Obama and the Democrats are somehow stealing the country and bent on removing their "choices" are just folks. The manipulators are a different issue all together. However, the manipulators are not the ones protesting - those they see as expendable shock troops are.

Recommended:
No Cure For Stupid Liars. Natasha Cart. OpenLeft. 8/10/09.

Please Cut the Crap - site by Milt Shook.