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Down The Middle - Sep 6, 2004 - Printable Version
- Drug Store Cowboy
by Down The Middle
We hadn't heard them for almost four years, but at the recent Republican Convention, President Bush has, once again, muttered those compelling, soft spoken words, "compassionate conservative", which he, himself, claims to be. When I heard this new "catch phrase" during Bush's first presidential campaign, I knew America would surely embrace this new "attitude" of a conservative government to watch over our tax dollars, all the while looking out for the common man. What a great image to project! It's just too bad that "image" is really all it is.
How can this President still claim to be conservative, when he is responsible for running up an all new, record high deficit (second and third place belonging to his Daddy and Ronald Reagan, respectively)? Wasn't it these same conservative Republicans who, for twenty-five years, have saddled the Democrats with the "tax and spend" image?
Oh, but you say, Bush did cut taxes, and I certainly can't argue with that. He gave huge tax breaks to every filthy rich person in the country, all the while promising that these savings would be reinvested in ventures, therefore creating new jobs for the "working" class of America. The reality is, the minimal number of jobs that have been created are too few to even keep up with normal population growth and most of them don't pay as well as the jobs which were lost. What little tax break he gave to the middle class has long since been gobbled up by this current dash of inflation, (blamed mostly on the doubling of oil prices, since the Administration backed a failed coup in Venezuela and invaded Iraq) and the lower class...well, I guess they're getting the same thing for Christmas, this year...Longer hours of hard labor, if they can get them, and higher prices at the store, with no tax relief at the end of the year.
Now, the President is telling everyone, the unemployment rate has dropped a tenth of a point to 5.4 which "proves" things are getting better. If there is a poorer indicator than the unemployment rate, I don't know what it is. People do go off the roles when they find employment, but they also get dropped when their benefits run out. Helps create a good image, though.
So now, you tell me, Bush has high Christian morals and God is on his side. As for the morality, I think a highly moral candidate would not want his campaign compadres to tell "half truths" to purposely mislead the people, just the same as if they had "lied". I don't think this "pillar of morality" would also allow his friends to pilfer the treasury with no-bid contracts and, shall we say, "highly questionable" accounting practices. Whether God is on his side or not remains to be seen...however, it does seem Bush has done plenty to get the ole Armageddon ball rolling by attacking the wrong country for weapons of mass destruction. I know, I know...it's easy to confuse Iraq and Iran. Their names are similar and you know, all those people are the same.
Maybe, our compassionate President would like to make up for the miscalculations he admittedly made in Iraq by endorsing a good national health insurance plan for the forty-five million citizens who cannot afford one on their own. (Almost a million and a half lost their health insurance this year alone). After all, Jesus had great compassion for the poor and told us many times to give them our money and follow Him. Could this be why there was no mention in the media during it's twenty-four hour a day coverage of Hurricane Charlie, that the eye of the storm had passed directly over the Bush family retreat at Boca Grande? I would have thought this would have passed for what we now accept as great investigative journalism and the networks would have been hot for the "news" but I guess, once again, they didn't want to give the perception of the Bushs being "rich folks". Remember that "camel through the eye of a needle" thing.
The image they would have us remember is that photogenic little backdrop used by all of the media, down at the ranch, of the rail fence in front of that single bail of hay with the little old, grayed barn in back. If we're lucky, maybe we'll get to see the tractor and Wolf Blitzer might even describe, in detail, just what it takes to be a hard working, good ole boy, farmer/rancher. Only then can they be assured that all of us ignorant working people will be able to relate. For me, it takes a little more more than wearing boots and driving a pickup to be a real cowboy, but who wants to argue with a man that suddenly acquired a bow legged "I'll kick your ass" swagger, after others won the battle.
Yes, of course, I realize that virtually all candidates, (and for that matter, all people), want to present an image that's probably a little nicer than reality dictates, but Mr. President, a compassionate conservative, you ain't...and until helping the working people of this country becomes a bigger priority for you than cuddling up with the fellow rich ("Your base", I believe you called them), you'll always be just another drugstore cowboy to me.
By the way, W. Please, have somebody change out that lone bail of hay. It's been sitting in that same spot for so long that the bottom has rotted away. That doesn't make for a good image.
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