I don't have to like Bush to love America

Saw this bumper sticker on a car today. Sums up my feelings pretty well, and leads into something I've been meaning to blog about recently anyway. With Ronald Reagan's death and funeral ceremonies this week, it seems even more timely.

During Reagan's terms in office, I was a pre-teen and teenager. And I was one of the most patriotic young SOBs you can imagine. I convinced my parents to buy an American flag for the front of our house, and I put it out there every day, and pulled it in at night. In 1986, when the space shuttle Challenger exploded, I figured out a way to rig the simple flagpole so the flag could rest at half-mast.

At the time, I was a political naif, believing whatever my parents did. (I was a member of the Teenage Republicans, for heaven's sake!) But even looking back in retrospect, even for those who disagreed with Reagan, it was hard not to like him. It was hard not to get sucked in by his optimistic charm, not to believe (as he did) that "America's best days were ahead of us."

Now, you can debate (as the media pundits have this week) whether Reagan's presidency helped or hurt America. Personally, I believe that his attitude helped. He made Americans feel positive about their nation again. After the sleazeball presidency of Richard Nixon and the uninspired administrations of Gerry Ford and Jimmy Carter, and the depressing era of Vietnam, Watergate, and the gas embargo, this was a welcome change.

But, Reagan certainly gets too much credit for some things. He didn't end the Cold War; the Soviet communist regime collapsed on itself within three generations, and this would have happened with or without Reagan's influence. The leg work to get the Iranian hostages released was done by the Carter administration; evidence suggests that Iran delayed their release 'til Reagan's inauguration day to curry favor and future weapons sales from the new president.

His "voodoo economic" plan doomed us to years of budget deficits; he mortgaged the future to pay for the present. He let the AIDS crisis explode on his watch, and he did very little to advance civil rights legislation in this country. He took millions of federal dollars away from large cities across the country, hastening the demise of the inner cities and causing "white flight" to the suburbs to flourish. Cities like Detroit, Philadelphia, Chicago and others have never recovered from this.

Yet despite his faults, it was easy to feel that Reagan had the country's best interests at heart. He felt positive about America, felt that we could defeat all challenges, and that came through in his words and his actions. He didn't lie to us, except during the Iran-Contra hearings. (And, if his Alzheimer's manifested itself early, maybe "I don't recall" wasn't a lie after all.)

I can't say the same about our current Idiot-in-Chief. Dubya and his cronies Cheney, Rumsfeld, Ashcroft and the rest of those neo-cons enjoy scaring the pants off Americans. They want us to live in fear, because that's good for conservative causes. They want us to see terrorists around every corner, which allows them to pass draconian laws and pilfer our civil liberties. They want us to believe that it's OK for the United States of America to TORTURE enemy prisoners if it prevents another terrorist attack. Come on, fucking torture???? America does NOT torture people. That is about the least American thing I can imagine. Bush talked big, that we were rescuing the Iraqi people from a despicable tyrant. Yet we're treating our enemies the same way Saddam treated his.

Look, I know 9/11 changed America. But I have to believe there's a way to prevent future terrorist attacks without making Americans afraid to leave their own houses, and without turning the USA into a police state. If we have to sell our soul by torturing people, what the hell does it matter that we're protecting America? The America that the Bush Administration is creating doesn't deserve to be protected. And they play the 9/11 trump card at every turn, and insinuate that if you disagree with Bush Administration policies, then you're against America and you want "the terrorists to win."

I love America. But do I love it as much as I used to? No. I don't like what America is becoming in the 21st century. The Patriot Act; the torture at Abu Ghraib; Bush's proposed anti-gay marriage constitutional amendment; talk of reinstating the draft to fight this ridiculous war in Iraq. And that fucking sucks. Bush is souring America for me and others like me. I never would have seriously considered leaving the USA until this administration. Now, if Bush and his minions reinstate the draft, or constitutionally outlaw gay marriage or abortion, I'm the hell out of here.

Just because I'm against this war and against this president's misguided policies doesn't mean I don't love America, or don't support our soldiers. In fact, it's BECAUSE I support our soldiers that I hate President Bush for starting this war. Over 800 of our men and women in uniform have come home from Iraq in coffins. 4500 have been injured, many with life-changing injuries like amputations and paralysis. How many more will die or lose their legs before this bullshit ends?

I love America. But I hate George W. Bush's America.