by Marlena Elias
August 9, 2004
Do not let the title of this article give you the impression that I'm going to be attacking the conservative Right. On the contrary, I have issues with both the Left and the Right.
Over the past 4 months the media has caught up with the notion of attacking this president and finally after almost 4 years, asking the important questions. What has also started to happen is that Left-oriented groups have started their version of Bush-bashing. Let me stop at this point and say that I am a liberal. Today, tomorrow and forever will I be liberal, which is why I need to write about this alarming trend I'm seeing.
In the May issue of Vanity Fair, Annie Liebowitz contributed photographs of the President and his staff. Unflattering photographs making all of them look like shit. Michael Moore took the most unflattering video he had available and again made the staff look like buffoons. I don't believe these people need any help looking like idiots - they do a fine job on their own.
I take issue with displaying pictures of folks for the sole purpose of degrading them, dehumanizing them, taking cheap shots at them. I understand completely and wholeheartedly that the conservative Republicans have done this to liberals throughout the ages with the most aggressive attack on Bill and Hillary Clinton. The nature of politics has become evil and vile and filled with hate. The vitriol spewed by right-wing pundits is despicable, but that does not mean we need to stoop to that level. Just because the Right enjoys vicious attacks on the left does not mean we should jump into the pig trough and join the shit flinging.
Lack of common human decency is what has me alarmed. There seems to be such divisive hatred of one side toward the other that there is no humanity anymore. I can't tolerate George W. Bush, but does that give me the right to show him in the worst possible light? I should be able to exercise my right as an American to say or do whatever I deem necessary to get my message out to the masses, however, when I degrade another human for sheer ugliness of it, it's wrong. I can send my message without humiliating another person, even if the group associated with Bush takes great pride in vilifying all the liberals believe in. Ugliness does not justify retaliatory ugliness.
During Fahrenheit 9/11, the first 20 minutes are dedicated to making the Bush team look like jackasses. I already know they are jackasses, so does anyone that is not immoral or dead. Bush and company have done a fine job screwing up all by themselves without being goaded by the Left. I hate that it's come to a pissing contest and with the election looming in our future, it's only going to get worse. What Fahrenheit does without fear of retribution or apology is show the true face of war which is why it is such an important movie. I wish Michael Moore could have put more effort into showing the effect of the war rather than show Bush and Co.
If I'm a supporter of Bush, 99 times out of a 100 I can't be convinced that he's all the terrible things that he is. (I don't need to rehash what has already been said.) There is no reasoning with folks who listen to Rush or O'Reilly or Coulter because they need to believe the hatred that is spewed on a daily basis, just like Rush or O'Reilly or Coulter need to perpetuate the hatred. It's a vicious cycle and unfortunately, the Left is now participating.
There is nothing in the Bush administration that I have ever endorsed or supported. They have given the folks that are poor or in middle nothing. There is nothing positive I can say about him or his people, however because they are despicable does that give me the right to ugliness? What kind of message do we send to our kids when we tell them it's really OK to fight below the belt? In my heart I have always felt superior to the Right because the ideals of the Left are much more like Jesus' teaching. No matter how pious or fanatical the Right gets, they continually lose sight of true Christianity. Now, my side, the Left, is committing the same heinous acts and I can't stand it. Does being right give us a blank check to be ugly? Does being right make us morally superior? What has become of this country that we have truly become ugly Americans?
Is there no public leader who is willing to take a stand and say "enough"?* Has our moral fiber been reduced to taking pot shots at anyone who has a different opinion? Is tolerance no longer in our lexicon, as if it ever was? Tolerance and acceptance must prevail or we will perish as a nation. Ugliness because you think your point of view is right can no longer be acceptable behavior no matter who you are or what party you are affiliated with.
Gandhi said: "We must be the change we wish to see in the world." <EM>
*Since I wrote this article, the Democratic convention has been held and John Kerry has been nominated for president. During his acceptance speech he did the one thing I was hoping he would do, which was to say "enough of the mud slinging, we have more important issues at hand". I was relieved, I was overjoyed, and I now feel more confident that we can win the election because the Republicans will come off as looking like schoolyard bullies if they keep up their attacks on Kerry. Making the declaration, "I want to address these next words directly to President George W. Bush: In the weeks ahead, let's be optimists, not just opponents. Let's build unity in the American family, not angry division. Let's honor this nation's diversity; let's respect one another; and let's never misuse for political purposes the most precious document in American history, the Constitution of the United States." That was exactly what I needed to hear from John Kerry so that when I cast my vote for him, I know he will remain above the fray.
