by Allen Snyder
--------------------
Dear Average GOPers:
It's been a few months since my last letter and I just want to know one thing.
Have you had enough?
Enough of the lies, the mendacity, the hypocrisy, the fear and the paranoia; the cowardice, the cons, the irrationality, and the arrogance; the bombast, the bullying, the violence, the killing, the distrust, the secrecy, and the hatred?
Enough of thinly-veiled GOP power grabs, the shameless politicizing and exploitation of 9/11, the reconstruction deals for the well-connected Halliburton and Bechtel (sweet!), the Elite Aviator action figure (gag!), Showtime's Presidential fiction film, regular buffoonery and condescension at the UN, the incredibly belated 'honesty' (forced by Dick-head Cheney's rehashing old lies), the treasonous outing of covert agents, and the behind-closed-doors Patriot Act 'conferences' Herr Ashcroft is holding?
Enough of 'environmentally friendly' initiatives that pollute the air, decimate the forests, trash the waterways, endanger species, melt glaciers, blow more holes in the ozone, eliminate rules and restrictions, deregulate industry, and encourage prairie-dog-like oil drilling and mining anywhere there's a drop of crude or speck of coal dust?
Enough of their media minions poisoning the airwaves with vitriol passing for reasoned opinion or logical argument, Judith Miller's bogus New York Times stories, their fundamentalist zeal and conscience-less war cheerleading, their intimidating the competition into goose-stepping ever farther to the right, the racist and homophobic hate rants from Republican party leaders, and their palpable ignorance of everything involving even a minimum of international cooperation, diplomatic tact, or compromise?
Enough of Bradleys, Humvees, WMD, RPG, CENTCOM, MRE, friendly fire, embeds, Private Lynch, armchair analysts, neo-cons, chickenhawks, FOX, the WSJ editorial page, the orchestrated hysteria, color-coded terrorist alerts that stay yellow no matter what happens, PNAC, 'surgical' air strikes, suicide bombers, the bribes-for-troops program, North Korean nukes and new American nuke-lettes?
Enough of the casualties - the dead, maimed, and crippled; the mocked-up corpses and war crimes committed in your name; the orphans, childless, brother-less, and spouse-less; the emotionally scarred, psychologically traumatized, and morally shaken; extended tours of duty, unilateral military action, pumping testosterone, quagmires, 'bring 'em on' terrorist taunting, shifting rationales, and the whole ridiculous notion of pre-emptive warfare?
Enough of bankrupt states, hemorrhaging budgets, cuts in basic services, ballooning deficits, rising unemployment, tuition hikes, tax cuts for rich folks, hundreds of billions in military expenditures, trickle-down economics that have never worked, leaving lots and lots of children behind, the buck-passing, the finger-pointing, corporate welfare, gutted social programs, free-speech zones, judge-less subpoenas, warrant-less searches, overturned sentences, tracked e-mails, library books, and websites, the acquiescence of Congress, a tainted and corrupt Supreme Court, the wholesale defection of responsible journalism, dumbed-down info-tainment, over-hyped news, and sexed-up dossiers?
Enough of Rice, Rove, Wolfowitz, Rumsfeld, Cheney, Powell (yes, even him), Perle, Card, Bugman DeLay, Dick-head Santorum, Bill Frist, Bill Kristol, Bill O'Reilly, Rush, Arnold, Joe Lieberman (he's on my side, right?), the Western White House, Sunday talk show saturation lying, puff-ball interviews, Bush's 'aw-shucks' folksy down-home act, his butchering of the English language, orchestrated recalls, punch-card ballots, Gallup polls, disenfranchised voters, stolen elections, Governor Brothers, and Tony Blair?
Enough of the ceaseless irony, the lack of humor, the thoughtlessness, the faux conservatism, the faux-er compassion, the machismo and misogyny, the whiffs of fascism, the censorship, the conflicts of interest, the contemptible war profiteering, the open scorn for the Rule of Law, the bait-and-switch, and their complete lack of sacrifice?
We have BushCo and its paranoid delusions of global grandeur to thank for just about all of it.
Again, I ask you.
Had enough?
Yeah, me too.
Al Snyder
Allen Snyder is an instructor of Philosophy and Ethics at Pellissippi State Technical Community College in Knoxville, Tennessee. He can be reached at asnyder111@hotmail.com This article is copyright by Allen Snyder and originally published by opednews.com but permission is granted for reprint in print, email, blog, or web media so long as this credit is attached.