Lying Low

I haven’t had much to say in the past few days. Or rather, I have had things to say, but I haven’t been quite sure how to phrase them. One of the things the Patriot Act has done is get me to question the limits of my freedom of speech. Sure, I can say whatever I want. But how much can I say before they start a file on me? I don’t trust this administration, I don’t like this administration, and every day I wish it were 2008. I don’t know if what we get then will be better, and I won’t kid myself that it couldn’t be worse. The government has taken a big step toward intrusiveness and schoolmarmism, and a big step away from reality and science. But there are more steps along that road; W is a herald of things to come, the Silver Surfer to the Religious Right’s Galactus.

What’s really made my blood boil these past few days is the statements made by Karl Rove in New York a couple days ago. Here are the relevant quotes (from the NY Times):

"Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 in the attacks and prepared for war; liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers," Mr. Rove, the senior political adviser to President Bush, said at a fund-raiser in Midtown for the Conservative Party of New York State.

...

"Has there ever been a more revealing moment this year?" Mr. Rove asked. "Let me just put this in fairly simple terms: Al Jazeera now broadcasts the words of Senator Durbin to the Mideast, certainly putting our troops in greater danger. No more needs to be said about the motives of liberals."

Essentially, he’s not just saying Durbin’s words put American troops in harm’s way – he’s saying that that was the liberal plan all along. That Durbin’s a traitor. That I’m a traitor.

Now I know, I know, I know he’s trying to bait us. And I vacillate between thinking the best thing to do is fight back with all the venom and fury we can muster, or to calmly say that he’s wrong and demand an apology. I feel like giving in to anger is simply acting according to his plan, but to not strike back with rhetoric of equal weight and bile would be to show weakness – also, what he wants. It’s like forking your opponent in chess – whatever way they react, they lose a piece.

I have to admit, he makes me furious. Being called a traitor isn’t something I take lightly, whether its from hacks like Anne Coulter or bullshit merchants like Karl Rove.

Of course, we know who’s truly undermining the troops, sending them into a manufactured war without adequate body armor, freezing the budget of the Department of Veteran’s Affairs and the like.

We know who’s working to collapse our economy, lining the pockets of his bosses with fat oil cash while we wring out the world like a sponge.

We know who’s working to cut the government’s income until it can’t continue to support essential services.

We know who’s doing his best to cut through the ropes holding up the social safety net. Gutting Social Security in favor of risky pyramid schemes they figure they can come out on top of when it all comes tumbling down.

We know who’s doing this. And they call us traitors?

Rob