| February
27, 2003
So,
are you still willing to believe the lie, the one about the country
being united behind George W. Bush? This "President" isn't
leading us anywhere but towards a cliff. The rest of the world knows
this, and despite the Administration's best efforts to keep us scared
and cowed, Americans are learning the truth, too.
The
latest polls are in, and the mood of that great "focus group"
known as the American voter is souring. According to the latest
Minnesota poll in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, "President"
Bush's approval rating is down to 50 percent. On the economy, 42
percent approve of his manhandling of the economy; 47 oppose. Those
are stunning numbers; Bush's approval rating have plummeted almost
40 points since 9/11.
At
the University of Minnesota, the students have added their voices
to the protest against Bush's war. In a campus-wide election held
yesterday, organized by Students Against War, a resolution opposing
a "unilateral, preemptive war against Iraq" generated
1,004 total votes: 860 supported the resolution, and 144 opposed.
Students Against War plans to submit this resolution to the U of
M's Board of Regents and demand the administration adopt it; if
this doesn't happen, they hope to include it in next month's student
elections.
Now
with a college with over 50,000 students - the largest campus in
the country - it would be easy for you to think that 1,004 votes
don't mean anything; you would be dead wrong. This turnout is double
the size of the average turnout of the annual student elections.
Believe me; you can't get the U of M students to vote for anything
that doesn't involve beer.
Here,
yet again, we have this enormous discord, this chasm between the
political rhetoric spun in the mass media and the reality. It's
enough to give you hallucinations.
I
remember last year when Michael Moore came to town. He was in St.
Paul to promote his then-new book, "Stupid White Men,"
which had just narrowly avoided pulping by its publisher, Harper
Collins (owned by Rupert Murdoch). After 9/11, we were all told
how America had changed. Bush had a 90 percent approval rating;
we were all "united" behind a suddenly great leader who
knew just what to say and what to do. As far as I could tell, the
whole country had turned Republican.
But
then Moore released his book, a scathing critique of the Bush White
House, and the course of the country in general. In a nation that
had suddenly turned monolithic almost overnight, he was literally
the voice of the opposition. "Stupid White Men" debuted
at the top of the New York Times Bestseller list, but that had to
be a fluke…right? After all, how many hippies are there out
there? Everyone loves Bush now.
Then
Michael Moore started on his book tour, another event that was almost
stopped by the publisher. During each stop, the man from Flint was
greeted by one overflowing mob after another. It was stunning, almost
beyond belief. Even when the St. Paul date arrived, I expected to
be among only a handful of people.
When
Moore arrived, he was greeted by 2000 people, lined around for blocks,
braving the cold, packed like sardines into a church, awaiting autographs
and anecdotes from America's only voice of dissent.
It
was all too much to take in. Every man and woman was crammed into
the church, even sitting in the aisles, and there were still hundreds
waiting outside. This was happening in cities around the country,
regardless of size or political affiliation. The whole evening -
the event lasted several hours - was too much for my mind to absorb.
It ran completely contrary to everything I had been told for months.
And now I was faced with an alternate reality. It was dizzying.
It's
almost as though the six billion people on this earth exist in one
universe, and the so-called media "experts" of Fox News,
MS-NBC, CNN, and their ilk exist in another. The Party Formerly
Known as Democrats is hiding under the covers, like some shy teenager
at a dance, desperate to be popular. And I have no idea where Dick
Cheney is.
But
the "reality" being spun every day is a lie. The economy.
The tax cut. The stock market. The environment. The corporate scandals.
Enron. Ken Lay. "Star Wars." "Weapons of Mass Destruction."
The War on Terror. The War on Iraq. North Korea. "New Europe."
The United Nations and international law. The legitimate election
of "President" George W. Bush. It's all lies, damned lies,
and cooked books.
This
is reality: Only 38% of Americans support an invasion of Iraq without
a UN mandate. Tony Blair's approval rating is at 35%. 122 members
of his own party broke ranks to endorse an amendment that states
the case for war has not been made. Public opposition to Gulf War
II hovers around 70-80% in France and Germany. In Spain, that number
is 75%. In Italy, 80% of the public is opposed. In Portugal, 53%
(under any circumstances). In Poland, heart of "New Europe,"
75%. In Hungary, 82%. In the Check Republic, 67% oppose with UN
support, 76% without. In Slovakia, 60% under any circumstances,
and support for war is nonexistent without UN approval.
The
reality is that the world considers George W. Bush a greater threat
to the world than either Iraq or Al-Qaeda. The reality is that this
is a war for oil; a war for ideology; a war for apocalyptic fundamentalism;
a war for power. This is a bid for empire. |
