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We interrupt the bad news for a brief pep talk
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by Helen & Harry Highwater, Unknown News
March 14, 2006
I paid my fare on the bus, walked down the aisle looking for a seat, and about halfway back there was a white man in his 30s wearing a yellow ribbon on his collar. The seat next to him was empty so I sat down and started chatting.
"What's the yellow ribbon mean?" I asked blankly.
He looked at me, slightly smiled and slightly coughed to clear his throat. "It means I support the troops."
"Huh," I said, mulling it over as if I'd never heard it before. "Do you 'support the troops' more than the other people on this bus, the people who aren't wearing that yellow ribbon?"
"Uhh ... " He looked odd uncomfortable.
"You think some of these people are rooting against the troops?"
No comment from the stranger.
"Do you 'support the troops' enough to stand up and say they ought to come home, instead of killing and dying for nothing but lies?"
His arm shot up like it was spring-loaded, and he yanked the cord to signal that he wanted off the bus. Scooting past my knees and muttering under his breath, he walked to the front of the bus, and when it stopped and the door opened, he stepped off. As the bus pulled back into traffic he flipped me his best argument, his middle finger.
I just smiled. I had an empty seat beside me, and he was stuck waiting for the next bus.
The bus was quiet for a moment, until an old woman a few seats in front of me shouted out, "I hate that bastard Bush."
"What good, patriotic American wouldn't?" I replied.
She flashed me a peace sign from the '60s, and another woman's voice from behind me chimed in, "Damn right." An old man in a suit smiled at me and shook his head 'yes', and a black kid who looked about 17 said, "Last week we had Army recruiters at my school, talking about how cool it is to wear the uniform. Man, it was f*cked up! Only he didn't spell f*cked with an asterisk.
Several other people offered their opinions of the President, the war, and the general situation in this country, and you know what? I didn't hear a single comment that sounded even vaguely Republican. The bus became a rolling room full of people talking, and everyone sounded like a peacenik.
* * *
Everywhere I go, I try to spread the word, and the word is: Bush-Cheney must go.
America's media won't report how utterly evil and colossally incompetent President Bush and his cohorts are, so we need to talk about it, everywhere. We need to get the message out -- that the King is not beloved, and that it's OK to say so. So say it out loud, say it often, say it to friends, family, co-workers. Say it to shoppers in the store, to salesmen on the phone, to Scientologists who approach you downtown, and yeah, say it to strangers on the bus.
Say it with me: Bush-Cheney must go.
America's President is either a criminal, insane, or criminally insane, and the henchmen who surround him are just as bonkers. His entire gang of thugs needs to be impeached, arrested, tried, convicted, and imprisoned -- and as ordinary citizens all these matters are out of our hands. But the very first step is something only we can do:
The Bush-Cheney administration must be disrespected. We need to make it obvious to everyone that these criminals are not America's legitimate government, and that ordinary, everyday Americans like you and me do not want The Sopranos in the White House.
Say it to people you know, and people you don't know: It's time to stop the killing, stop the lying, stop the secrecy, stop the dying, stop the torture, and stop the spying. Stop the Bush-Cheney abomination.
Nobody who loves either God or Country could support a White House that
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Everywhere I go, I try to spread the word, and the word is: Bush-Cheney must go.
America's media won't report how utterly evil and colossally incompetent President Bush and his cohorts are, so we need to talk about it, everywhere.
We need to get the message out -- that the King is not beloved, and that it's OK to say so.
So say it out loud, say it often, say it to friends, family, co-workers.
Say it to shoppers in the store, to salesmen on the phone, to Scientologists who approach you downtown, and yeah, say it to strangers on the bus.
Say it with me:
Bush-Cheney must go.
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C'mon, saving the country has to be worth the risk of having strangers think you're slightly nutty.
A lot of people fought and died for America's freedom -- nobody's asking you to pick up a gun and put your life in peril.
But I challenge you to be slightly nutty about peace, freedom, civil rights, and the US Constitution.
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There's much more than this at Unknown News.
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hates both. The Bush-Cheney gang speaks solemnly of America while scrawling obscenities across the Constitution, and they pose as Christians while pursuing policies that would make Jesus vomit.
If your pastor, priest, or clergyman hasn't spoken against Bush and Cheney, pull him or her aside and explain the difference between right and wrong.
When you see your neighbor, don't just wave and say howdy, wave and say "Impeach the President!"
Write a letter to the editor, or a comment on somebody's blog. Wear a button on your lapel, or slap a bumper sticker on your forehead so there's no doubt.
C'mon, saving the country has to be worth the risk of having strangers think you're slightly nutty. A lot of people fought and died for America's freedom -- nobody's asking you to pick up a gun and put your life in peril. But I challenge you to be slightly nutty about peace, freedom, civil rights, and the US Constitution.
The Bush gang are opposed to all these virtues, every American principle, and any other decent thing you can think of. So don't hem and haw and hesitate. If you give a dang about your country, stand up and speak out against the monsters who've stolen it.
© by the author.
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This is an archived Unknown News page. For newest material, visit our main page.
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 DoveTM. 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
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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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We appreciate the heck out of everyone who helps.
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Previous articles by Helen & Harry Highwater:
Stand up for something, damn it
by Helen & Harry Highwater
What kind of 'patriot' supports a tyrant?
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Time to oppose the phony opposition
by Helen & Harry Highwater
President Charles Manson
by Helen & Harry Highwater
What's for dinner at the Hanoi Hilton?
by Helen & Harry Highwater
The bully at the bully pulpit
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Truth or dare, America
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Bush administration spying targets reporters, activists
by Helen & Harry Highwater
No, Virginia,
we're not libertarians
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Letter to the editor
by Proud American, with a response from Helen & Harry Highwater
A whisper of optimism
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Muhammad Ali is a scumbag
by Helen & Harry Highwater
On behalf of God Himself, I endorse Alito for Supreme Court
by Helen & Harry Highwater, as Jerry Falwell
The old guy in a sweatshirt
by Helen & Harry Highwater
The emperor wears no mental clothes
by Helen & Harry Highwater
I'm filing bankruptcy
by Helen Highwater
Our long national nightmare is just beginning
by Helen & Harry Highwater
"Mission accomplished" for FEMA
by Harry Highwater
Police roadblock freedom in America
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Our phone number
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Fuck you, George W. Bush
by Helen & Harry Highwater
A forgotten man, one of many
by Helen & Harry Highwater
The daily compromise
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Are you for freedom, or against it?
by Helen & Harry Highwater
The unspoken subtext of Karl Rove's treason:
Support your local CIA
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Cabbages don't count
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Back to basics: Question authority
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Anatomy of another lie
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Constipated and liquefied logic
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Be careful crossing the street, ya damn kids!
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Monsters in America,
from Deep Throat to James Watt to Christopher Cox
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Mainstream media:
Completely on board with Bush administration lies
by Helen & Harry Highwater
A Pope to be ashamed of
by Helen & Harry Highwater
What can we do about the stolen election?
by Atomicktom and
Helen & Harry Highwater
The President who cried "wolf!"
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Defeating terrorists without wars
by Helen & Harry Highwater
If you're not for Bush, you're French ... or al Qaeda
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Rescuing America from tyranny
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Separation of church and state
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Who would Jesus vote for?
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Godless hippie scumbag
traitors who hate the troops
by Helen & Harry Highwater
To tell the truth
by Helen & Harry Highwater
What kind of bloody savages
would kill people and drag
their corpses along the road?
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Our serial killer nation
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Judging Judging Amy
by Helen & Harry Highwater
An apology and an endorsement
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Rights, responsibilities, and acknowledgement
by Peace-Thru-Reason and
Helen & Harry Highwater
Los Angeles Times memo orders reporters to fudge the truth
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Our perspective on Terri Schiavo
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Who deserves freedom of speech? And who doesn't?
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Two years of lies about Sept. 11
The new Warren Commission
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Criticizing Israel
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Is it terrorism to be a patriot?
Or is it just like Red Dawn, only with turbans?
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Bush knocks on Armageddon's back door
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Why I won't be at the victory parade
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Company fined $6,000 for
answering customer's questions
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Clint Eastwood, and US foreign policy
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Do you love America? Do you?
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Google refuses our ad
by Helen & Harry Highwater
Reasonable deaths in a nonsense war
by Helen & Harry Highwater
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