He’s Not My President
Writing by treason on Sunday, 23 of October , 2005 at 11:35 pm
It’s deja vu all over again. I spent some time surfing for a column from someone on the Right who hasn’t been advised to stay away from sharp objects. The closest thing was Peggy Noonan. She was calm, as if she’d swallowed a Valium and washed it down with brandy. But Peggy has always had a sense of decorum, so I can’t be sure if she’s resorted to sedatives. Either way, she wasn’t shrill or angry; in fact, her column was kinder and gentler than a few others I came across. She praised George W. Bush and said fine things about him. Then she said that he should do the right thing and just admit he made a boo-boo.
It’s like when she said Bill Clinton was coarse and vulgar, it almost sounded like a compliment. Peggy has a way with words. I know she has affection for the Bush family, and she’s not one to abandon the administration when things aren’t going perfectly.
In other words, she’s not backing away from Bush as if he were a stinking, bloated corpse. There are some who are threatening to. Suddenly, George W. Bush just isn’t the man they thought he was. They were sold a bill of goods. He’s not the conservative he told them he was. In fact, he might not even be the Christian he claimed to be.
When his dad announced that his administration would be kinder and gentler (than what, we asked), he was separating himself from Reagan and in doing so ticked off a lot of conservatives. What they heard was “more compassionate, less conservative” and they didn’t like it.
Now here’s his son, the “compassionate conservative” (Dubya, that’s redundant!) straying from what we thought were conservative policies. Harriet Miers isn’t going to work out. He’s letting down the base. He’s lost the support of his party. His administration’s finished.
Or not. People, relax. It’s the second term. You try battling terrorism and Mother Nature and the media and see how well you come out. It’s like last night when we had some people over. A Republican friend, who isn’t afraid to talk about politics, religion, or rock and roll in mixed company, introduced the subject of Katrina. Another friend - a lifelong Democrat - was willing to have the discussion. His position was that we should do everything we can to help the victims of the hurricane. Job, new homes - whatever they need, they should have it.
That led to a discussion of the minimum wage. My Republican friend and I had voted against raising it in the last election; my Democrat friend voted for it, saying no one who works for minimum wage can afford to buy a home, so they should make more money. It’s not fair that they can’t own a home.
I explained that one of the problems I had with the legislation is that our city would raise the minimum wage, but surrounding cities wouldn’t and this would adversely affect small business owners. He said if he ran a business in another town, he still would have voted for the measure, knowing that it would hurt his own business. Employees would take comparable jobs in this town to get the higher wage and he’d lose them even after he’d invested in their training. But no matter: it’s wrong for people to earn the current minimum wage because they can’t afford to buy homes.
Um, when I was making what was considered a very good wage I couldn’t afford to buy a home in California, New York, Massachusetts, or several other areas in the country. So I chose to move here and buy what was affordable. Was it fair that I couldn’t buy a home in Boston or Manhattan? Was anyone wringing their hands over that injustice? I can’t afford a jet, either. Where’s the sympathy?
Somehow that turned into a discussion of the lottery. My GOP friend and I listed all the things we would do if we had won the 300+ million dollars. We’d give people money to start their own businesses, then they would have to help someone else once theirs took off. We’d pay for little kids’ eyeglasses. Little old ladies’ veterinary bills. The list went on.
“That doesn’t sound very Republican!”, my Democrat friend announced.
“What would you do with the money?”, we asked.
“Well, after buying a few houses all over the world, I’d buy an island and get as far away as I could from everyone.”
More proof that Democrats, like my friend, love humanity but hate humans. It’s also odd that the group that prides itself on original thought is so quick to attack Republicans who have been critical of the Miers nomination. They’re salivating over what appears to be conflict within the party. As if this was one big circus and the rogue elephants were rampaging through all three rings. Poppycock. All it means is that there’s plenty of room for everyone in the tent.
We don’t all agree all the time. I just spoke to my sister who’s a Seventh Day Adventist. She’s upset with her church school over a recent decision she calls “un-Christian.” I mentioned that, before the 2004 election, I was getting e-mail from Christians who were upset with Dick Cheney and wanted him off the ticket because of his daughter’s sexual orientation. She thought I was kidding.
“That’s crazy! I love Dick Cheney!”
Proof that not all Christians think alike. But sometimes it seems like Democrats do, and that could be their strength. When Bill Clinton was in office, many in his party loathed him but when he was in trouble they swallowed hard (maybe a bad choice of words) and stood up for him time and time again. Unity. Solidarity. All together behind their leader. Whether they could stomach him or not.
Well, Dubya’s still my president. I can disagree with him on some things and support him on others. I would prefer that fellow conservatives continue to express their opinions instead of standing behind the administration on every policy, either holding their noses or biting their tongues.
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