Unknown News | A whisper of optimism? | Helen & Harry Highwater

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Mental Health Moment: A weekly column by Helen & Harry Highwater

THE WEEK BEFORE

www.unknownnews.org/hh.html

THE WEEK AFTER

A whisper of optimism?

by Helen & Harry Highwater, Unknown News

Nov. 18, 2005

In the build-up to the attack on Iraq, Bush, Cheney, and their high-level cohorts repeated public lies over and over, to convince America that Iraq in some way

threatened America.

Behind these lies, an unspoken implication was that those who opposed an attack on Iraq would leave America undefended. In a very real sense, then, all the lies that built the war were cut from the same cloth as most famous, fundamental lie after 9/11/2001:

"Every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists."
President George W. Bush
Sept. 20, 2001

For five years, opposing Bush-Cheney has been portrayed as opposing America.

It's taken five long and murderous years for any prominent Republican to pointedly say that's not true, and endorse what America is: America is the right to dissent.

Republicans have walked in goosestep away from this, and instead marched in perfect unison to condemn any disagreement with Bush-Cheney's insane foreign policy as unAmerican. Without exception, Republican office-holders on the national level have quietly embraced President Bush's dangerous pronouncement that if you're not with him, you're against him.

They have reiterated a thousand ways, that to question Bush-Cheney policy is to be unpatriotic. To question Bush-Cheney wars, is to disrespect the troops. To stand against their right-wing policies means standing against America.

"I have not seen the actual transcript of [[Bill Maher's]] show itself. But assuming the press reports are right, it's a terrible thing to say, and it unfortunate. And that's why ... they're reminders to all Americans that they need to watch what they say, watch what they do. This is not a time for remarks like that; there never is."
White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer
Sept. 26, 2001

"To those who pit Americans against immigrants, and citizens against non-citizens; to those who scare peace-loving people with phantoms of lost liberty; my message is this: Your tactics only aid terrorists -- for they erode our national unity and diminish our resolve. They give ammunition to America's enemies, and pause to America's friends. They encourage people of good will to remain silent in the face of evil."
Attorney General John Ashcroft
Dec. 6, 2001

"The Senate is more interested in special interests in Washington and not interested in the security of the American people."
President George W. Bush
Sept. 25, 2002

"I don't see how you can lead this country to succeed in Iraq if you say "wrong war, wrong time, wrong place." What message does that send our troops? What message does that send our allies? What message does that send the Iraqis?"
President George W. Bush
Oct. 1, 2004

"We must be careful not to give terrorists the false hope that if they can simply hold on long enough, that they can outlast us."
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
Nov. 15, 2005

And so on and so forth -- ominous reminders that any disagreement gives comfort to "the enemy," or that dissent somehow saps our gallant national resolve to fight all enemies real and imagined.

I won't ever forgive Bush, Cheney, or their cohorts for saying -- sometimes bluntly, more often very vaguely but unmistakably -- that their positions are synonymous with patriotism, and that any disagreement is treason. Saying that is treason, if you ask me.

And Sen. Chuck Hagel [Very R-Nebraska] has been a Bush-Cheney cohort. He has blood on his hands, and in a society that cared about justice, Hagel would stand trial alongside the rest of the killers.

But when I read what Hagel said on Tuesday, I cried.

"The Bush Administration must understand that each American has a right to question our policies in Iraq and should not be demonized for disagreeing with them. Suggesting that to challenge or criticize policy is undermining and hurting our troops is not democracy nor what this country has stood for, for over 200 years. The Democrats have an obligation to challenge in a serious and responsible manner, offering solutions and alternatives to the Administration’s policies.

"Vietnam was a national tragedy partly because Members of Congress failed their country, remained silent and lacked the courage to challenge the Administrations in power until it was too late. Some of us who went through that nightmare have an obligation to the 58,000 Americans who died in Vietnam to not let that happen again. To question your government is not unpatriotic -- to not question your government is unpatriotic. America owes its men and women in uniform a policy worthy of their sacrifices."
Sen. Chuck Hagel
Nov. 15, 2005

Those aren't exactly brilliant words, and nobody's calling Bartlett's Familiar Quotations. But how startling, how breathtaking, to hear such words from a prominent Republican.

Is it possible that at long last, we've reached the point where Bush-Cheney's popularity is so low, a longtime gang member like Hagel is willing to take a public step toward good citizenship? Can a Republican say that it's OK to disagree?

As I wipe my tears, I cross my fingers. Hagel might merely be manufacturing piffle, posing for the cameras. He is, after all, considered a front-running candidate for the Republicans' 2008 Presidential ticket.

But perhaps, perhaps there's hope. Perhaps this is a turning point, and a few other Republicans will follow Hagel's example. Perhaps an honest, intelligent discussion of the issues will again be allowed, instead of being blocked by pretentious phony-patriotic posturing.

Perhaps freedom of speech will again be respected in this nation, instead of smeared. Our right to speak freely is America's greatest strength, never a liability.

"The Bush Administration must understand that each American has a right to question our policies in Iraq and should not be demonized for disagreeing with them.

"Suggesting that to challenge or criticize policy is undermining and hurting our troops is not democracy nor what this country has stood for, for over 200 years.

"The Democrats have an obligation to challenge in a serious and responsible manner, offering solutions and alternatives to the Administration’s policies.

"Vietnam was a national tragedy partly because Members of Congress failed their country, remained silent and lacked the courage to challenge the Administrations in power until it was too late.

"Some of us who went through that nightmare have an obligation to the 58,000 Americans who died in Vietnam to not let that happen again.

"To question your government is not unpatriotic -- to not question your government is unpatriotic.

"America owes its men and women in uniform a policy worthy of their sacrifices."

Sen. Chuck Hagel
Nov. 15, 2005

As I wipe my tears, I cross my fingers.

Hagel might merely be manufacturing piffle, posing for the cameras.

He is, after all, considered a front-running candidate for the Republicans' 2008 Presidential ticket.

But perhaps, perhaps there's hope.

Perhaps this is a turning point, and a few other Republicans will follow Hagel's example.

Perhaps an honest, intelligent discussion of the issues will again be allowed, instead of being blocked by pretentious phony-patriotic posturing.

I can't afford therapy, but boy do I need it. So as an affordable alternative, I pound my anger into a weekly column here.

Fair warning: My parents were repressed -- using any bad words would get my mouth washed out with soap, literally. I still remember the sickly flavor of Dove^TM. So as an adult, vulgarity helps with the healing. If naughty language offends you, beat the rush and get offended now.

This page is for my own good, not yours, so you may not like it, but I don't care.

About the authors

Helen and Harry Highwater have published Unknown News since 1997. We're a married couple sharing a byline à la Lennon and McCartney, and "I" can be either of us, or both of us. If you're consumed by curiosity, it's safe to assume the more boisterous and aggressive bits come from Helen, and anything ladylike or demure is probably Harry's work.

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