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BBHQ Boomer Essays: |
| Our Boomer-In-Charge here at BBHQ, Hershel Chicowitz, writes frequently about current events... from a boomer perspective. He is sometimes funny, sometimes provocative, sometimes a little of each. We hope you get a kick out of our Boomer Essays. |
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I've got a paradox in front of me.... a real dilemma. Maybe you can help
me. I hate dilemmas. I'm trying to sort out the bad guys from the good
guys, and it's sooooo confusing. In 2000, Texas Governor and Republican candidate for president George Bush promised to bring a new tone to Washington. He said, "I'm a uniter, not a divider." Well, he became president. And here we are, four years later, and the tone is downright vicious. Now, I was not born yesterday; I understand that politics is a contact sport. But the tone and spirit of national politics is worse than it has been at any other time in my life. So, it must be all George Bush's fault... another campaign promise down the drain. Lemme show you some examples: Last fall, the president accused the esteemed senior senator from Massachusetts, Edward Kennedy, of telling "lie after lie after lie" on the Senate floor. Mighty strong stuff, if you ask me. I consider a lie to be one of the most serious sins one can commit. But what is especially vicious is that the president provided absolutely no evidence that Senator Kennedy had lied. This is blasphemy! He should be ashamed!
 Oh, wait.... wait a minute. I may have something wrong here. Let me check....... Oh, yes; I got it wrong. President Bush did not say that about Senator Kennedy. Senator Kennedy accused the president of telling "lie after lie after lie." And yes, he has nothing substantive to back it up. (And just where was Senator Kennedy's indignation when President Bill Clinton was telling "lie after lie after lie"?) I'm sorry. I guess I got that wrong. Let me try another one. Last week the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Republican Dennis Hastert, said this of the presumptive Democratic nominee, John Kerry. He "is an incompetent leader. In fact, he's not a leader. He's a person who has no judgment, no experience and no knowledge of the subjects that he has to decide upon... The shallowness that he has brought to the office has not changed since he got there... In order to lead, you have to have judgment. In order to have judgment, you have to have knowledge and experience. He has none." Whew! Not holding anything back, is he? And, although it did not come out of the mouth of the president, Hastert is a leader in the president's party. And George Bush sat back and said nothing. Cowardly. Just plain cowardly.
Uh, oh..... there may be a discrepancy here. Just a moment. No; I'm sorry. The quote is exactly right, but I identified the people incorrectly. Speaker of the House Hastert did not say that. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi did. She was ripping George Bush. She went on to say, "Not to get personal about it, but the president's capacity to lead has never been there. In order to lead, you have to have judgment. In order to have judgment, you have to have knowledge and experience. He has none... This president has demonstrated very clearly that he does not have the capacity to present a plan to transition... The only way we can get more troops from other countries is to have a president who respects the other countries. It's hopeless for George Bush. He has made it hopeless... He's gone," Pelosi said of Bush. "He's so gone." Ya' notice anything missing there? Specifics. Yep; it's all blind, baseless venom; no substance whatsoever. It is so easy to make baseless accusations; and so mindless.
OK, let me try one more. Last winter, Senator Kerry took a few days off from his demanding job as a U.S. senator and went skiing in Idaho. Well, he took a small spill on a ski run. Never missing a chance to take a dig at his opponent, George Bush said, "What happened? Did the training wheels fall off?" Oh, always the kidder, George Bush. But then he got nasty. President Bush said that John Kerry has proposed "the most arrogant, inept, reckless, and ideological foreign policy in the modern history of this country." On March 10, President Bush described his likely opponent's staff as follows: "These guys are the most crooked, lying group I've ever seen." Of Senator Kerry's weak appearance on "Good Morning America," the president said, I did not expect him "to f*** it up as badly as he did." This is the mature, skilled leader of the free world, the spokesman for our country, for cryin' out loud! But wait... I got it wrong again. Yep; George Bush said none of those things about John Kerry. John Kerry said them.... about George Bush. Of his little skiing accident, Kerry added, "I don't fall down. The sunofabich knocked me over." Kerry also recently took a spill off his bike. Of these two incidents, the White House said... absolutely nothing.
A few weeks ago, we asked subscribers to our newsletter to tell us why they hate George Bush. We sure got an earful; we'll unload here in a few weeks. But one visitor said she did not like George Bush (or his surrogates) calling John Kerry unpatriotic. We wrote back and asked for an example. She replied, "Look; you asked me for reasons why I hate George Bush. I told you. Now you want to debate me. Well, count me out." And that was that. We're still trying to find an example. Just one.
During the campaign, in an interview with Telemundo, NBC's Spanish-language network, Teresa Heinz Kerry said, "To have a couple of people, who escaped four, five, six times and deferred and deferred and deferred; calling him anything regarding his service is in and of itself unpatriotic. Unpatriotic." Democratic New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg said, on the Senate floor, "We know who the chicken hawks are. They talk tough on national defense and military issues and cast aspersions on others. When it was their turn to serve where were they? AWOL--that's where they were. And now the chicken hawks are cackling about Senator John Kerry. And the lead chicken hawk against Senator Kerry is the vice president of the United States--Vice President Cheney." Oh, and then there was the respected Senator Joe Biden, Democrat from Delaware, who, on October 20, said, of the president, "He is brain dead." How you gonna' set a new tone in Washington when the opposition is saying that? Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe charged George Bush with being AWOL; perhaps even a "deserter," a charge that Democratic candidate Wesley Clark refused to repudiate. Yep; I'll bet that you would have thought it was exactly the other way around. After all, that's what the press has been telling you. There's just one problem with that: it is simply not true. "Bush is responsible for the terrorists bombs in Spain." - Former Vermont Governor and Democratic candidate for president, Howard Dean, who also said that the Bush administration "cares more about burning books than reading books." In his 2003 State of the Union Address, President Bush described Saddam Hussein's torture: "International human rights groups have catalogued other methods used in the torture chambers of Iraq: electric shock, burning with hot irons, dripping acid on the skin, mutilation with electric drills, cutting out tongues, and rape." On May 10 Senator Kennedy said, "Saddam's torture chambers have been reopened under new management, United States management." Is that just normal political banter? Or is it despicably over the top? You tell me. In fact, I am trying to find one nasty thing that President Bush has said about anyone since he became president, and.... so far, not a thing. Nothing. Not even a comeback to the nasty things that people have said about him. Strange how the press never comments on that, isn't it?
Last Sunday at a pep rally in Sioux Falls, South Dakoda for Democratic House candidate Stephanie Herseth, Democratic Senator Tim Johnson told the crowd that Herseth will win a June 1 special election against Republican Larry Diedrich. "And how sweet it's going to be on June 2 when the Taliban wing of the Republican Party finds out what's happened in South Dakota," Johnson said at the event. The senator issued an apology Tuesday, saying "I am proud of the support I have enjoyed from Republicans across South Dakota. In a state like ours, you have to be able to reach across party lines to find consensus. If any Republicans were offended, I apologize." As if only Republicans should be offended! But, lemme' tell you this: if a Republican had said such a thing, the Democrats and the press would hound him (or her) into the ground, as they did with Senator Trent Lott. In August 2004, Iowa Senator Tom Harkin commented about Vice President Cheney's draft deferrment: "When I hear this coming from Dick Cheney, who was a coward, who would not serve during the Vietnam War, it makes my blood boil." A coward.... a coward!! This, coming from a guy who claimed that he served in Vietnam. "One year was in Vietnam. I was flying F-4s and F-8s on combat air patrols and photo-reconnaissance support missions." Turns out that the closest that Senator Harkin got to Vietnam while in the service.... was Japan.
Talk Radio A lot of people write to us telling us about the vicious, hateful things that Rush Limbaugh says. Now, I doubt that they ever actually hear him say the things they quote. But that does not matter to them. I am not a regular listener of Rush's, but I occasionally tune in to Rush, Sean Hannity, Neal Bortz, and Tony Snow -- card-carrying members all, of the "vast, right-wing conspiracy." I have never heard any of them call any Democrat unpatriotic. Never. If you have an example, please tell us about it. But I have seen some transcripts from the new, liberal radio network, Air America. Hold your breath (and perhaps your nose); I have some examples:
(Sean Hannity has the second largest audience in talk radio. In 2004 he signed a deal that wlll bring him a base pay of $2 million a year. Al Franken is losing audience.... every week. On Sunday, he gave up his salary at Air America in order to keep the liberal network from going bust. Whadda' you bet he does not last the year? Hannity: dumb, huh? Two million dollars a year dumb.) Air America host Randi Rhodes compared Bush and his family to the Corleones in the "Godfather" saga. "Like Fredo, somebody ought to take him out fishing and phuw," she said, imitating the sound of gunfire. Imagine if Rush Limbaugh had said that about Bill Clinton. (I know that some of you believe he did; but trust me, he did not.) The New York Daily News wrote, "If you're a card-carrying lib who likes crude sex jokes and a cartoonish echo chamber, Air America is for you."
Now, I know that George Bush is not responsible for what is broadcast on Air America, or even on Rush Limbaugh's show. But after all... this is happening on his watch. The president set the tone. Look at what he has done. Yeah; that's the ticket. George Bush is responsible for the shrill tone ripping through our culture. It's all his fault.
Update: Well, it is 2005; the election is over. But the dirty talk continues. Entertainer Bill Maher is convinced that this is the fault of those on the right:
Oh.... correction.... not just the right, the "entire right wing." Democratic Senator Ken Salazar has strong opinions of the Focus on the Family religion-based organization:
Dirty talk is rampant in the Senate -- on the Democratic side. Apparently Senator Salazar took his cue from his leader, Democratic leader Harry Reid, who said:
 So the president is a brain dead loser. But at least he has a wonderful father. Ah, how thoughtful, huh? The dirty talk has gone 3-dimensional. These T-shirts turned up on a Democratic site funded by George Soros, who blew $25 million in 2004 trying to defeat George Bush.
So.... if you can't defeat him at the ballot box..... let's just kill him, huh? Yep; that is their mindset. Now, the T-shirts are not the fault of the Democratic party leadership. But.... did you hear DNC leader Howard Dean condemn them? Did you hear Harry Reid or Nancy Pelosi distance their party from this despicable behavior? Nope; not a peep. And, did you hear the mainstream media make note that the Democrats have not disavowed this level of discourse? Of course not. All you hear form them is that the president has not elevated the tone in Washington. It figures, huh?
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Exploring My Roots: A Chicowitz History
Membership details here.
Terrific boomer memorabilia!!
Remember this?
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We have received numerous interesting and revealing responses to this essay. Most of the writers assume that we are among the mean and nasty Republicans, if not card-carrying members of the conspiracy, even though our essay expresses no direct support for George Bush. Many also claim that George Bush personally approved the prison abuses in Iraq, though that issue has nothing whatsoever to do with this essay. Visitor Allyn begins by writing, "So, what happened to the budget surplus?" Budget surplus? Where do we talk about the budget surplus? Where did that come from?
They go on to express their baseless hate or disdain for George Bush: he's soooo dumb; it's that snicker! But none of them has said a thing that refutes the points made in the essay. As is typical of Democrats, they allow their emotions to override facts and evidence, as well as the subject at hand. For them, it is not about the nasty tone in Washington. In fact, it is not about the prison abuses, the budget surplus, or even the snicker. It is about their baseless, though venomous hate for the president. That's all.
Veeeeery interesting!
Visitor Sandra thinks she is scoring points:
| "It certainly is GW's fault and yours too for trying to make it seem as though it's everyone else's fault... If he was a better president these things would not have been said of him. It is about time the rest of us spoke up against a tyrant, a self imposed dictator, an egotistical pretzel liar, and a repugnant little manipulating piece of humanity. What a poor excuse for a man." |
Ouch! So it is our fault, too! (You should see the other things she wrote. Whew!) But in fact, she is only proving our point. (Gees, we love hearing from visitors!)
Late in the week, this popped into our mailbox:
"Al Gore spoke the truth, the real truth, and American truth. The hate speech that we are exposed to on a daily basis comes from the likes of you and the rest of you lying fascist scum that contaminate this country. You are the Republican taliban."
"lying, fascist scum," huh? Very descriptive. We were impressed, until we learned that it was copied, word for word, from another web site. Shucks, even the nasty talk is not original.
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If you like what we're doing here at BBHQ, please help us by buying stuff through our link to Amazon.com:
| The BBHQ Album of the Month is "Old Friends Live on Stage (Deluxe Edition) (2 CD/1 DVD)," by Simon & Garfunkel. If you were fortunate enough to see them in concert last year, I do not have to sell you. The concert was terrific! This album collection includes 55 songs, plus their new recording, "Citizen of the Planet," and one of the songs sung by the Everly Brothers during the concert. The DVD was recorded during their concert in Madison Square Garden in 2003. For any S&G fan, this is a must have! But then, you knew that already, didn't you? |
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The BBHQ Book of the Month is
"Vinyl Highway," by
Dee Dee Phelps. You remember her as Dee Dee, of Dick and Dee Dee.
Together, they took a decade long ride on the rock and roll roller
coaster. It was a heck of a ride! Dick Clark, Quincy Jones, the Beach
Boys, Glenn Campbell, Dionne Warwick, Bobby Vinton... Dick and Dee Dee
rubbed shoulders with all of them. This is her "behind the scenes" story.
It's pretty cool.
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