Mr. Keilor,
From the time I was first eligible to vote, to the ‘96 general election, I voted Republican. Didn’t like the liberal “tax and spend” Democrats. But in ‘96, Bob Dole lost my vote because I just didn’t see anything he could bring to the office that wasn’t being covered by Bubba. I was employed after a four year span from ‘90 to ‘94. I has to go into Chapter 13 to save my home, but at least I has a job that paid enough for me to get the bankruptcy discharged in ‘97. In 2000, I couldn’t handle the smart aleck, “shoot from the hip” George W. Bush. Al Gore was the type “B” personality I felt we needed to “stay the course” of a budget surplus, world respect, and hope for health care reform while leaving Social Security intact. Well, the election was stolen, the will of the people was not done, and many who voted for Bush now must feel, I hope, that they’ve been duped. After 9/11 I felt we did right by invading Afghanistan. But then we screwed up. Instead of going into Pakistan the same way, we let them lead us by the nose with alleged Bin Laden sightings, ignoring their sharing of nuclear information with other countries. We went into Iraq under the lies that Saddam Hussein had “weapons of mass destruction”. Then Bush jokes about it later by looking for said weapons in the Oval Office. Remember that?
Comedian Bill Ingvold does a routine where those who ask stupid questions should be made to wear an ” I’m Stupid” sign. This way, you know not to ask them anything. The same should be required of those who, after all that has happened since Bush took office, still insist he is the right man for the job. This way, the rest of us could have meaningful discussions about the candidates without wasting our time.
If Bush is re elected, by 2008 we will no longer be The United States Of America. Rather, we will be the “Haliburton Territory, United Colonies Of Saudi Arabia”. Bush will remain “President” because we will no longer have free elections. Perhaps the Saudi Royal Family will appoint their wayward son, Osama, our Secretary Of State. Far fetched you say? Not if this great nation sits on it’s hands and does not vote on election day. We sent our sons and daughters to die in Iraq, the sacrifice to give up a little time to vote pales in comparison.
(GOD, ALLAH, CONFUCIUS, BUDDAH, THE GREAT PUMPKIN) BLESS AMERICA, WHILE SHE IS STILL THE LAND OF THE FREE.
Mike Dimenn, Proud American, True Believer In Democracy.
Posted by Mike Dimenn on Aug 27, 2004 at 1:12 PM
Well written!
Don’t we all wish we could write like that?
Posted by Jim Siesennop on Aug 27, 2004 at 1:27 PM
Oh yes, Bush is the best person to have in power for the zealots and greed soaked Republicans! Please everyone, read “Bush on the Couch: Inside the Mind of the President,” by Justin Franks. What an eye opener that book is—it explains everything about this incompetent that is the most powerful man in the world. Too scary for words. He has to go, or I move to Canada!
Posted by Nancy on Aug 27, 2004 at 1:42 PM
No, Joe Keene you will not have to live in hell; it is the less fortunate among us that are living in the hell that this administration has created.
I acknowledge that Bush may win the upcoming election, but it will not be fair and square or, in your words, legitimate. He has proven that already.
Posted by Iris on Aug 27, 2004 at 1:44 PM
God bless Garrison! The text belongs in a history book free of censorship by the current administration.
Greed and power hungriness have led the Bush cult to begin a systematic dismantling of democracy, selling the pieces to the highest private bidder.
There is a sinister, oddly transparent, process underway to squander the American idea, covered by a smokescreen of Orwellian propaganda.
It is no less dangerous than the origins of an authoritarian Germany during the 30’s.
Keiller is right - this is NO time to be neutral.
Posted by Robert Herman on Aug 27, 2004 at 1:44 PM
Nice article !
Im sure ill be corrected if im wrong, but didnt our founding fathers say ” our government is here to protect the powerless from the powerful “.
My how far we have gotten of the beaten path.
Posted by Mark on Aug 27, 2004 at 1:55 PM
G. posted on August 27, 2004 at 2:42pm. It is noted how often you had to refer to the fact that you USED to be a Democrat. Perhaps it does give you some legitimacy. No Democrat I have ever known could do such an extreme make-over. Do you think it may just be your bad side coming to the fore?
Posted by Iris on Aug 27, 2004 at 1:58 PM
thank you, garrison, for your usual candour and wit. we north of the border are watching anxiously this fight of your lifetime to preserve democracy, which will have profound influence on our future, too.
we are watching 1984 being updated - scary indeed!
Posted by peter on Aug 27, 2004 at 2:01 PM
Let us hear Garrison comment on the party of Bill Clinton with the same “unbiased”, objectivity. Let us hear his comments on the party that rented out the White House, and then vandalized it when they moved out. Let us hear about a party that defended a President who committed adultery while on the job in the Oval Office, and then directly lied to Congress and the American people about it. Let us hear about the party that panders to the worst, and most useless people in the nation which drags us all further down to the lowest common denominator.
Posted by lunatech on Aug 27, 2004 at 2:21 PM
BRILLANT!!!! ARE YOU MARRIED? IF SO, damn…
Posted by LAURA on Aug 27, 2004 at 2:27 PM
This is the second piece by Garrison I’ve read in a week. Keep the fire going, Garrison, and the rest of us—all the way to (and through) election day. And for those few dissenters on this discussion thread: The current Repub-liban Party (Republican crossed with Taliban) does not resemble the party I joined while living in Wyoming. These Repub-libans are well represented by President Duh-bya who was proud of being a C- college student—because the GOP has been highjacked by the cynical, the callous and the clueless.
I sent the following letter to the Nashville paper today, and don’t expect it will be published. But it expresses the sentiments of one former Republican who has no desire to surrender to the shallow meanness that pervades the GOP now. Read it and weep, you Duh-bya apologists:
Letter to the Editor: A Republican (Not) for Bush
As a registered Republican in Wyoming before returning to Tennessee, I have felt that the Republican Party’s history has sometimes given moderate voters a choice in elections. Over the years, some proud Republicans have supported protecting the environment and conserving our natural heritage. Others have helped pass the Americans with Disabilities Act to give the less fortunate greater access to jobs and public services. Many (if not most) Republicans have supported fiscal restraint and a balanced budget at all levels of government. The GOP has been a strong states’ rights supporter and has often fought against federal intrusion into our personal and family lives. Until recently, Republicans have also honored our veterans without fail, and have sometimes even practiced a foreign policy that walked softly, even as we carried a big stick.
My question today: where did that Republican Party go? For the past four years, George W. Bush has muddied everything that was worthy of support in the Republican Party’s history. Instead of standing on, and governing from, sensible and long-held principles; he has used personal attacks against his opponents to deflect attention from his “what, me worry?” incompetence, the radical agenda of his handlers and the selfishness and self-centeredness that is the foundation of his appeal within the “I’ve got mine, so screw you!!” suburban set.
So, in this election, I am voting against Bush. In so doing, I hope that the Republican Party can reawaken some of its honorable and deeply-held values and quiet the shrill extremists who now control its voice. I am joined by other Republican friends and family members in this decision, and I hope that many Americans who value principled (and competent) leadership over personal attacks and political sleight-of-hand will join us by defeating Bush, for the sake of our conservative values and the nation we all love.
Bernie Ellis
Old Natchez Trace Road
Fly, TN
PS: These days, I would much rather be labelled a “tax and spend” Democrat than a “borrow and steal” Repub-liban.
Posted by Bernie Ellis on Aug 27, 2004 at 2:31 PM
Garrison, almost thou persuadest me to become a Democrat. As a 70 year old lifetime Republican who voted for Dubya last time and is now ABB, I have watched the transition from the proud and reasonable Ike to the collection of religious nuts and geeks but I still believe we must have two parties - and I am going to do what I can to return the Republican Party to the party of Lincoln, Ike, Charlie and Ev. The best indication Dubya is worried - look at the “librals” he is now showcasing in prime time during the convention. Ain’t it great to see the conservatives and religious nuts shunted behind the curtains until after the election?
Posted by Bob Scott on Aug 27, 2004 at 2:45 PM
The time for talking is over. Now it is time to work. Answer phones at your local Kerry headquarters, hold a Kerry house meeting, make calls at a phone bank, volunteer at Kerry events, help register voters, become a precinct Kerry captain, hand out information on absentee and early voting, help get voters to the polls. Enough talk… lets get this thing done!
Posted by Rob North on Aug 27, 2004 at 2:51 PM
Thank you for expressing my thoughts as I never could. Recently, I saw these two items that made
me feel eviscerated again—“Scopes Trial: Fundamentalism confronts modern science” and “Hitler makes use of the new media to mold people to his will”. We will wake-up to a revolution.
Is it possible to send your article to the local newspaper?
Posted by Liz Browne on Aug 27, 2004 at 2:54 PM
What wonderful lines (” Hypocrisies shine like cat turds in the moonlight!” and such). Angry much, mr Garrison? It sounds as though a few people here are in dire need of a blow job.
Being a centrist, I was thinking of voting for Kerry, but all this anti-Bush hysteria (and that’s just what it is — pure, unadulterated, unbridled, hate-filled hysteria) has me changing my mind. I’m not going to vote for a guy whose supporters — convention kooks, Hollywood, Moore, Franken and THIS guy — act like the frickin’ world is going to come to an end if they don’t get Bush out of office (someone here recently mentioned that the Republic will end if Bush is reelected). I interpret this as meaning that they’re not that really enthused about Kerry… Just getting a certain republican out of office.
Obviously, the people commenting here were Liberal Democrats before they read your article. So congratulations, Mr. Garrison. Your article HAS made a difference. You just made your enemy one man stronger.
PS — even if your boy does get elected, he will be as useless as tits on a bull. You guys need to get both houses of congress back in order to make this country a nice socialist utopia, and that will be no easy task. I guess you better keep ranting and screaming, but don’t let it kill you.
Posted by John sKerry on Aug 27, 2004 at 2:58 PM
Was Opias’ name misspelt?
Posted by Probono on Aug 27, 2004 at 2:59 PM
Is Opias’ name misspelt?
Posted by Probono on Aug 27, 2004 at 3:03 PM
To John sKerry:
You were as likely to vote for Kerry before reading Garrison’s piece as you are to stop polishing your own knob someday. These aren’t fellow frat boys you’re communicating with now, so try harder next time. You Bush apologists are literal and figurative W-ankers.
Posted by Bernie Ellis on Aug 27, 2004 at 3:08 PM
I absolutely agree with what Mr. Keillor stated, and I’m very thankful that he had the courage to speak out.
However, I am quite pessimistic about the state of current affairs, and to echo what John McNamara wrote on this blog, I also believe that Kerry can’t undo the damage of our neo-con administration. I would go a step further, and say that Kerry is only the lesser of two evils.
As a democrat, I want to support Kerry full heartedly, but I’ve been unable to do so. He just doesn’t have enough clear answers to the tough questions, and more importantly, I believe that his corporate affiliations and interests aren’t far removed from those of the Bush/Chaney administration.
In some ways, as dismal as the prospect sounds, it may indeed be best if Kerry lost this election.
First, because it would let Bush & Co. show all of their true colors without having to worry about winning votes. Their recklessness is bound to create such turmoil, that even the staunch supporters will be appalled.
Second, the damage done is so vast, that if Kerry wins, the likelihood is that he won’t be able to repair much if any of what Bush has created. Further more, Kerry’s inability to change the situation substantially will only serve as a comparison note to republicans. They’ll say that the situation got out of control under Kerry, not under Bush. And given the scope of the mess left in Bush’s wake, it probably would take several administrations to undo the damage.
Third, Kerry may indeed be a war hero, and to many around the world a much needed change in American politics. But what happens to the morale of our country and that of our allies when Kerry fails to deliver? What if the situation in Iraq worsens after Kerry is elected? What are the consequences of a declining economy under a democratic administration?
In my opinion, it’s better to let things run their course. Let the neo-cons do themselves in.
After two consecutive terms, it is my belief that our country will not be divided as it is now, and that it will be clear to all that the neo-cons are weakening America in every way. Four years from now perhaps a more liberal, more revolutionary, less corporate democratic candidate may surface to rally our nation.
Let’s keep the dialog moving, and let’s tell it like it is.
Thank you for speaking the truth Mr. Keillor.
Posted by Gerald Iragorri on Aug 27, 2004 at 3:11 PM
Hey Bernie Ellis. Go fuck yourself. You don’t know jack shit about me, and you’ve just shown your ignorance. Are you even an American, btw? The reason I ask is because of your use of British slang. Just curious.
Posted by john sKerry on Aug 27, 2004 at 3:17 PM
We have 45 million people with no health insurance. We have 39.5 million more people living in poverty than was the case in 2000. We have almost 1,000 dead Americans in Iraq.
What do we have to do to relieve us of this individual ocupying the White White Oval Office?
We have to get him out in order to get Mr. Kerry in to create some semblance of civil behaviour in our country.
Thanx for your piece.
Evelyn
Posted by evelynfriedman on Aug 27, 2004 at 3:17 PM
Pass this around. Everyone needs to read it! Man, it’s a sad day when a Democrat (and democrat) says he missed Nixon….
Posted by Michael on Aug 27, 2004 at 3:21 PM
Gerald,
Your comments, though well-written and intended, remind me of the Vietnam era refrain that “... we had to destroy the village to save it.” I understand your concerns, but our goal should not be to hope for a political revolution by allowing Duh-bya another four years. And that’s the only reason not to vote for John Kerry—because you want George Bush to remain at the helm. We need to defend America and the world NOW—and defeat Bush.
I also want to apologize to the blog for getting John sKerry to rise to the bait so quickly with the usual Cheney-like charm that Bushies are known for. As an eighth generation Mississippean, that was the first time I’ve ever been called un-American (such an original insult, too, from a political substrate that thinks that Kerry’s ability to speak French is somehow comical or “un-‘merikan”). But then again, I’m not surprised that Bushies would relate to erudite references as something foreign—because for them, they are. Now, as my momma would counsel, it’s time to leave Mr. sKerry alone before he strokes out—to kill him with silence. Here’s hoping he goes to Repub-liban heaven—soon.
Posted by Bernie Ellis on Aug 27, 2004 at 3:37 PM
Garrison Keiller’s remarks are scary and right on the money. I’m ashamed to admit that I’m one of the people who have been standing ideally by while the radical right wingers were gradually taking America back to the dark ages. George W. Bush was my wake-up call. The lies and arrogance of this man along with his unwillingness to consider any opinion other than his own has done more to ruin the American way of life than any other president I can remember. I read a perfect description of him. “George W. Bush—a totally worthless, morally impaired warmonger”.
Posted by Bill Anderson on Aug 27, 2004 at 3:38 PM
I grew up on the American border (north of Detroit)in the late 1950’s, 1960’s and into the early 1970’s. America for me was the ideal. Over the past 20 years I feel that it is not the same place I knew and unfortunately your current Republicanism is infecting my country. I believe that the principles of American are being re-awakened. After reading Mr. Keillor’s article and the majority of the responses maybe it is getting safe to be a liberal in America again. We will all be better for it.
Margaret Atwood has expressed this much more eloquently in a letter to America. If you get the chance read the article and trust that there are a lot of us rooting for you.
http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=31514
Posted by Mike in Toronto on Aug 27, 2004 at 3:39 PM
“There are those who believe that, if you will only legislate to make the well-to-do prosperous, their prosperity will leak through on those below.”
William Jennings Bryan, 1896!! From his “Cross of Gold” speech:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/1900/filmmore/reference/primary/crossofgold.html
Republicans, time to wake up. “Trickle Down” is flawed for the same reason as Socialism: people’s intrisic greed.
Posted by George on Aug 27, 2004 at 4:11 PM
Simple, clear, astonsihing brilliance.
Posted by Kona Lowell on Aug 27, 2004 at 5:01 PM
forces are at play:
1) corporations have the status of personhood, as people. Corporations have, for instance, protected speech (it’s not false advertising). The underlying criminal acts of a corporation in misrepresenting income tax cannot, by law, be revealed (they are treated like people, like citizens, like singular personages). See supreme court ruling, 1896, on the southern pacific rail road. The modern corporation is a golem.
2)From “Look Away, a history of the confederate states during the civil war” one will see precisely the current GOP, but it was then the democrats in the south. Fast forward to the dixiecrats, civil rights, and vampire like, the tyranical hatred of the southern aristocracy leaves the democratic party and infects the Republican party.
Posted by gerald berke on Aug 27, 2004 at 5:07 PM
Mr. Keillor speaks truth to power. I can only hope that people are listening, as polls in the last few days show that—amazingly—Shrub’s poll numbers appear to be improving following the “Swift Boat” garbage.
Posted by rena stone on Aug 27, 2004 at 5:22 PM
I wrote this poem back during the Reagan years and thought everyone would enjoy it.
Oh beautiful for spacious skies,
Look into your childrens’ eyes,
Why spread the hate, why spread the lies,
Under beautiful and spacious skies.
Home of the Brave, land of the Free,
Not as free as it used to be,
Wave the Flag, the people can’t see,
In the home of the brave, land of the Free.
Posted by DruidMerlyn on Aug 27, 2004 at 5:23 PM
I have linked this article elsewhere because this is a rant the likes of which I would be proud and pleased to see in the editorial pages of any press anywhere.
And I’m not.
I should be seeing it all over the papers and networks, but no.
All I get is the clones of Rush.
Why?
I’m also quite concerned about touch-screen voting machine fraud and all those Florida troopers trying to intimidate little old southern black ladies who were getting beat up long ago, back in the Jim Crow days, by the same sort of troopers.
Then there’s the fake felon rolls, of course.
It won’t matter what anybody wants to vote if the margin is tiny and hundreds of thousands of votes
are cheated away.
But the latest twist is that Anonymous has been sending in huge numbers of change of address forms to the Registrar of Voters—and doing it completely **without your knowledge**—to remove all kinds of voters in heavily Democratic districts.
If they do it to you, then when you show up to vote at the polls, the pollworkers don’t show you in the district where you actually live. They don’t recognize you, they won’t let you vote, and by then you have no recourse.
You have to check if you’re properly registered, where you actually live, in time to get it fixed.
This happened to various people I know in Missouri’s last election, so it’s no joke. It coul be happening on a vast scale, too.
This could be prevented by not allowing state Registrar of Voters to do so many suspicious change of address forms at once, but that isn’t going to be fixed in the law in time for this vital election, is it?
The answer? Vote absentee. Check to make sure you’re properly registered in time to fix it.
Posted by Heather Gladney on Aug 27, 2004 at 5:28 PM
‘Good hearted people’?????
I loathe this sort of commentary. It involves the assumption that once upon a time the Republicans were decent people with quite reasonable ideas and a genuine devotion to the public interest, but that at some stage (apparently only after Nixon for this writer but more recently for many others), they degenerated into nuts.
In fact, this is a form of nostalgia. If you study the history of American conservatism, you will find that the Republican party has always been the party of reaction and obscurantism, and has been tied to nutty ‘free market’ economics since the 1920s.
The only basis for the more positive estimate of the Republicans is that, in the 1950s, they were led by Eisenhower, who was a ‘moderate’ Republican, in other words, a paradoxical creature. Since the personal preferences of a president tend to set the tone of the administration as a whole, the tone of the 1950s Republican administration was in some respects mildly progressive. By present standards, Eisenhower was not too bad.
But after Eisenhower left office, the party rediscovered its true colours, and the nomination of Barry Goldwater in 1964 was part of the process by which the party went back to its roots. Bush II represents nothing more than the natural culmination of Republican party politics.
Why do people feel the need, when attacking Bush and the current gang, to invoke a past era when Republicans were somehow much better people? Unfortunately, I remember the 1960s very, very well - and I can assure you that very little has changed.
As far as I can see, the only real change is that over time Republicans have become angrier and more aggressive.
Posted by Carl Wernerhoff on Aug 27, 2004 at 6:01 PM
Sally McCoy, talk about a call to arms! “War on Error” is the perfect counter-mantra for this election.
Posted by Adam Swayne on Aug 27, 2004 at 6:08 PM
“Hypocrisies shine like cat turds in the moonlight!” Oh, that so really lit up my day!
Posted by Dave McLane on Aug 27, 2004 at 6:18 PM
Was sent your article by a friend and very happy to get it. Now I know there are at least a few people or journalist that will “Tell It Like It Is”. Just got through watching “Bill Moyers” on PBS and all the extravagant parties sponsored none the less by big business in search of favors. It happens on both sides be it Republican or Democrat it seems and we the people are the ones that are being “SHUT OUT”.
They take our money sponsored by big business say it is for Aids or health care, therefore it is deductable on income tax. Of course this is by invitation only….And do the Delegates get to go in???No they are turned away at the door. What a gosh awful mess this is. No one is standing up for us the little guy except a very very few. It is time for our press which is supposed to keep this from happening by revealing all this to the public to get off their butts and start reporting something worthy of being called news and not some more smut or smear that is going on. They (the press) could stop all of this by not giving air time to smears or state it for what it is. We better wise up and wake up or we will wake up in
a condition that our forefathers would be sick of.
Where are the good people???Where are the patriots???Where are the Brave????Who will stand up????Don’t look at the other guy next to you and ask this question. Look in the mirror and ask this question? Where are you America?????Close to the end if you don’t wake up and speak up.
Posted by Dee Lochala on Aug 27, 2004 at 6:35 PM
I enjoyed the article. I found it halarious, especially the paragraph that listed all the shady characters that make up the bulk of the Republican party. One category, however, left me a little confused. Why did he include Fakirs? Perhaps this bit was meant to be ironic. I don’t think that a Hindu/Muslim mendicant holy man from India would likely be included under that tent. If a Fakir were involved in American politics, or any politics for that matter, I would imagine he would probably be an independent. I happen to respect these figures, and would hope that they would have more cosmic wisdom than to align themselves with the gods of war (though, as often the case with the truly wise, there might be some deeper rationale that is not apparent to mundane minds like mine).
Posted by Tony on Aug 27, 2004 at 6:49 PM
“Angry much, mr Garrison? It sounds as though a few people here are in dire need of a blow job.”
“(and that’s just what it is — pure, unadulterated, unbridled, hate-filled hysteria)”
“Hey Bernie Ellis. Go fuck yourself. You don’t know jack shit about me”
john sKerry, your comments are well-reasoned, objective, and certainly not tainted by strong emotions. You’ve certainly earned the mantle of “centrist,” being a Greek ideal of moderation and ratiocination. Though, to be fair to Garrison Keillor, as shrill and paranoid as he obviously is, I think he was making a larger point about the GOP as a whole, not just a screed against just George W. Bush. I believe the point is that the GOP has slowly and tragically declined since its founding in the mid 19th century (when it started as a party of Lincoln and abolition).
Posted by Mr. Liberal on Aug 27, 2004 at 7:15 PM
Dear Mr.Keillor,
THANK YOU for you report What is so confusing about the trail of lies, the secrets, the betrayal of the USA and it’s citizens, stil 50% of the public think this Judas is who they will vote for in November. (That is if we can believe the news) Perhaps the Democrats should start taking a look at their past failures. No one holds these FAILURES ACCOUNTABLE. We the public need the simple tools our employers use to get rid of the prostitues, those who write legislation for Corporations, legislation that is not good for the citizens. WE NEED THE ABILITY TO STEP IN AND FIRE THESE ELECTED BEFORE THEY CAN COMPLETE THEIR DAMAGING LEGISLATION.
We can look at Tom Scully or Scally Wag as I called him in my e-mails to him, while he was writing the Medicare Drug Bill, he was in negotiations for employment with a law firm that lobbied for the drug industry. This Drug bill is very detramental to the seniors but so lucrative for the Drug Industry. Then we can look at 26 years of Congressional Hearings telling us how bad nursing home care is in the USA and we find some PAID OFF POLITICIAN who wrote laws where negligent Homicide or manslaughter in a nursing home is NOT a capitol crime but merely a regulatory issue. Then lets look at Enron, Harken Energy Corp (Bush former CEO) or Halliburton (Chenny former CEO) who was, has and is screwing us taxpayers every day and we do not have the means to get these CRIMINALS OFF THE PAYROLL AND OUT OF WASHINGTON DC and into prison. It is apparent BUSH encourages fraud and as long as he proceeds his lies with how religious he is, it’s OK. We accept all this lying, cheating, fraud, grand theft as ‘DIRTY POLITICS’. Wouldn’t it be a wonderful change to have the way to imprison these crooks and replace them with men and women with morals and codes of ethics and be able to do it at the time of their crime or their puposed dirty regulations?
We have had filthy Politicians and Dirty Politics on both sides, with no way to hold them criminally accountable. We need a change, a total change of OUR attitudes. This dirty politics has got to stop.
Thank you again for your WONDERFUL REPORTING
Posted by Ila Swan on Aug 27, 2004 at 7:19 PM
The “Correspondent Breeze” created by Mark Twain’s writing just blew into Lake Woebegon and unleashed the message this nation needs right now. Thanks Mr. Keillor… Let us have more.
Posted by Bill Horne on Aug 27, 2004 at 7:25 PM
Several people have spoken about the need for action, and what all of us can do to play our part. This prayer and prophesy from the Hopi elders should give us the pleasure of knowing that our purpose here—now—is to do what is necessary to get this country (and the ideals on which it was founded) back on track. Thanks, Garrison, and now to sleep.
From the Hopi Elders
You have been telling the people that this is the Eleventh Hour.
Now you must go back and tell the people that this is The Hour.
Here are the things that must be considered:
Where are you living?
What are you doing?
What are your relationships?
Are you in right relation?
Where is your water?
Know our garden.
It is time to speak your Truth.
Create your community.
Be good to each other.
And do not look outside yourself for the leader.
This could be a good time!
There is a river flowing now very fast.
It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid.
They will try to hold on to the shore.
They will feel like they are being torn apart, and they will suffer greatly.
Know the river has its destination.
The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off toward the middle of the river,
keep our eyes open, and our heads above the water.
See who is there with you and celebrate.
At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally, least of all ourselves!
For the moment we do, our spiritual growth and journey comes to a halt.
The time of the lonely wolf is over. Gather yourselves!
Banish the word struggle from your attitude and vocabulary.
All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.
We are the ones we have been waiting for.
The Elders, Oraibi, Arizona, Hopi Nation
Posted by Bernie Ellis on Aug 27, 2004 at 7:31 PM
Dear Garrison,
I had heard a horrible rumor that YOU had become a Republican. What a relief to know that you are still on our side.
I must, however, remind you that while Eisenhower was perhaps not as brazen as our current Commander and Thief, he was no saint. Just ask the Guatemalans. And, I would not necessarily say that the flourishing of arts and culture during the 1950s was a credit to his administration.
That said, your point is well taken—-this brazenness that is the Republican mode of operation is deeply distressing, and I, too, hope that this country is not so paralyzed by misinformation as to give this CREEP a second term.
Thanks for your humor. I’m glad you are still a Democrat.
Sincerely,
Sara
Posted by Sara on Aug 27, 2004 at 7:35 PM
Please allow this to sink in before rushing to judgment. It took me some time to come to this conclusion. Especially after being exposed to much more information on a President than ever before. From sources like NPR, AirAmericaRadio.com, Jim Hightower, and books recently published on Bush ie. “The New Pearl Harbour”, “How Much Are You Making on the War Daddy?”, Ron Suskins book on Paul O’Neil, and others. This is the conclusion I’ve come too: We need to pray for the man who represents our country.
No, not pray for his early demise! lol We need to dig deep into ourselves and pray for his wisdom to grow. For his honesty to shine. For his love to grow. For his desire to do the right thing to galvanise. Not to intend his reelection, but to lead this country in a better way during the time he has left. I don’t think these prayers will help him with his mudslinging campain.;) If, God forbid he gets reelected, i hope my despair does not overwhelm my desire to have him be the best leader he can be!
Posted by Kirk on Aug 27, 2004 at 9:11 PM
Mr. Keillor,
I love you every week on Prairy Home Companion and I love this essay! As a fellow citizen and a fellow writer I must confess your way with words brings tears to my eyes and leaves me speachless with admiration!
Our Nation, however, is truly caught between a rock and a hard place. John Kerry is in favor of the war in Iraq and could find no more harsh critisism than to say that we should have seduced more of the nations of Europe into this quick sand with us instead of going in alone. He supports the Isreali apartheid of the Palestinians- the most egregeous and long running miscarriage of justice and, violation of human rights in the world today, not to mention the primary source of international insecurity and conflict. He voted in favor of the Patriot Act and still fully supports it’s defacto nulification of the Bill of Rights. He voted for, and supports, the World Trade Organisation, NAFTA, the World Bank, and the ongoing economic policies that are decimating America’s middle class. His only offer of solution is yet more corporate wellfare in the form of government money given to those corporations that make a token effort to “keep jobs in the U.S.” As if using middle America’s money to bribe multi national corporations to keep middle America employed was a shell game we could ever win. While not quite so openly and deeply entwined, Kerry is taking money from and deeply indebted to the same special intrests as Bush. Sometimes I don’t know which scares me more, those who inexplicable swallow the lies and propaganda of the Republican fascists, or those who still think that the Democratic party still represents a viable and substantive difference. The state of our Nation can be summed up in the words of a fellow Skull and Bones member (the exclusive, elite secret Yale fraternity that both Bush and Kerry were members of). When a reporter asked this Alum, considering their famous loyalty to other members, how he could decide who to vote for, he smiled and said, “It doesn’t matter. We win either way.”
Posted by Bruce on Aug 27, 2004 at 9:50 PM
The people I worry about most are not those who will have read this article by the time it comes to vote, but those who haven’t, or those who dismiss it as blasphemy, or worse, treason in the name of patriotism. Somehow I get the feeling the hottest place in hell is going to be very very crowded in December.
GET THE WORD OUT, MORE DEPENDS ON IT THAN YOU REALIZE.
Posted by Carl on Aug 27, 2004 at 9:55 PM
Mr. Keillor if you read this, I’m deeply grateful for the opportunity to voice (?) my thanks for your eloquence and wit, and now courage in these times, with this powerful message.
Dredging up Vietnam, questioning John Kerrys war record, due to the lack of ANY, throughout this administration, is upsetting, disgusting sleaze politics. But I shouldn’t be so naive and surprised at those tactics by this administration.
You are a national treasure, I love you! Your brother Mark T. is cheering you on! These words (of yours) seem appropriate to quote:
Dogs don’t lie, and why should I?
Strangers come, they growl and bark.
They know their loved ones in the dark.
Now let me, by night or day,
Be just as full of truth as they.
—Lake Wobegon Days
Posted by jane on Aug 27, 2004 at 10:26 PM
Daggar-in-the-heart logic from Garrison. Let’s not waste our own intelligence and clear opinions on each other. We must spar with folks at places such as the Weekly Standard so that they feel the dissent and breath on the back of their necks. It seems the right is quite comfortable throwing stones from it’s glass bubble. Let’s crack that bitch and fire back.
Posted by Dan Marfisi on Aug 27, 2004 at 10:38 PM
Garrison Keillor tells it as I see it and feel it. How can I help spread his pronouncements where they will do the most good?
Posted by Annette Bork on Aug 27, 2004 at 10:57 PM
Mr. Keillor,
Thank you so much for your message. It is sorely needed in these times. As I’ve read every post to this point, has anyone else noticed that the Bushies always resort to denigration of individuals, while never giving a single reason to support this president? While on the other side, the Bush opponents gives facts and figures, and heartfelt witness to the hardships imposed by the current administration? Why is that? Will they be backing Bush even after the investigations, the criminal trials, the tell-all books 5,10,15 years from now, or will they hold their hate as long as the Swift Boaters? Only to have it appear at a later date that serves to satisfy their sick revenge at the most self-serving time? I want us to be better than that, but my friends tell me that’s the Utopian in me. You’re darn right!
Posted by D. Johnson on Aug 27, 2004 at 11:15 PM
garrison:
i read somewhere that dubya is the most dangerous man in the world.
i agree, and fervently hope you guys in america will rise up and throw him out of office.
Posted by peter on Aug 27, 2004 at 11:20 PM
Garrison, you are wonderful! I am very concerned about the environment under this regime. It seems to me that no one is mentioning the horrible, backward steps that have been taken by our country in the last three years. It’s change or die for America! Mr Smirky Jerky, Bush Boy must believe the world is going to end so why bother yourself about the pollution. I do believe SJ,BB is operating with this sort of idea.
Posted by Marian on Aug 27, 2004 at 11:42 PM
Come now, cowpox, the war beween the states is long over and the union still stands. Further, I cannot for the life of me understand why you folks continue to support the Republicans when the Southern states have the lowest per capita incomes in the country and send the most troops to be slaughtered so the boys in the back room can drive their gas guzzlers, pocket their golden parachutes, and hide their oil profits.
You can pray for the troops and hate the war and despise the president who sent them there.
Go Garrison!
nana
Posted by naughtynana on Aug 28, 2004 at 12:09 AM
Everyone has said it already, so I’ll just add one more superlative: BRILLIANT!
Thank you, Mr Keillor….
Janice
Posted by Janice on Aug 28, 2004 at 12:19 AM
You know how this election makes me feel? There should be an amendment to the Constitution that states that when one registers to vote at age 18 (for me it was age 21—how many of you remember those times?) you get ONE CHANCE to cast TWO votes when you feel, “This is the most important election of my life”.
The fly in that ointment is that we would have used it up when we were younger. I certainly would have (Nixon-McGovern?).
I have felt since the 1960s that if our Republic survived Richard Nixon, it can survive anything. Now I’m not so sure.
Posted by Richard Stark on Aug 28, 2004 at 12:32 AM
I think the scariest thing about what’s going on in America right now is that children are growing up thinking Fox News is a legitimate news organization. Actually they’re not so much thinking, as blindly accepting: “it’s on TV, it has news in its name, etc.”
Those on the left need to fight back against this and so many other things. For instance, why can’t filthy-rich Democrats fund a start-up that produce voting machines that DO provide a paper trail? I’m a computer programmer living in one of the 10 or 15 wealthiest counties in the country, and I would work for such an enterprise for HALF what I could make as a cog in the overarching corporate wheel America has become.
Think I’ll cross post this to the Williamson County Democrats Yahoo group. Now YOU go do something too ;)
Posted by George on Aug 28, 2004 at 3:48 AM
A raindrop of logic and common sense in a roiling, broiling sea of inconsistancy, maliciousness, and bad intent.
Posted by Joe Pound on Aug 28, 2004 at 4:08 AM
There once was a president (Let’s call him LBJ), who decided to support equal rights for blacks. “How can this be?” said the southern Democrats. “He’s one of us! A southerner…. a Democrat… a Texan, for God’s sake.” Having none of this, these southern Democrats became southern Republicans… taking their bigotries with them.
So, in response to Mr. Keillor’s question… “How did the Party ... transmogrify…? This is meerly an example.
Posted by Hoodel on Aug 28, 2004 at 4:26 AM
Dude…awesome! How do you know you’re not Mark Twain? Keep “telling the truth and shaming the devil.” Everyone. Thanks!
Posted by jef schultz on Aug 28, 2004 at 4:38 AM
I too believe in my heart that this republic will be gone if Bush fanagles his way into office for four more years.Mr.Bush has put in place his own judges to control the direction that he wants the country to go.He has gutted and/hamstrung any protection of the environment,for the benefit of the richest industrialists and to the detrement of all the citizens of this country and the world.Freedom has become a dirty word to the world thanks to W..
Don’t be fooled.Mr. Kerry,if he is elected will not look good and probably will not be re-elected because it will take four years to clean up the mess that Mr.Bush has made of this country.Meanwhile the republicans will make hay of the fact that Mr.Kerry did nothing and will win re-election and continue on with the destruction of this country.One president can’t pull this country out of a deficit hole that we have been pushed into.
I see a very bleak future for this country with fewer freedoms for the people,less money,and a strangle hold on the windpipe of hope.So sad.
I am an independent and I will vote for Kerry just in the very faint hope that Bush will be expelled from our already clogged throats,but I see dire times ahead for this repulic.Ed P.
Posted by Ed Pleskovitch on Aug 28, 2004 at 4:58 AM
Kerry is NOT the answer! Sorry, he is one of the many who are part of the problem! He and GW are cousins and are both pledged to the same Club. They ultimately have the same aims. There is an alternative: Mr. John Joseph Kennedy of NC, who is dedicated to the Constitution (the Original!) and who needs to be our next President. Please check him out and lend your support NOW—the campaign is ON and growing. We need to remove the dross that is part of BOTH of the two main parties!
Posted by John Weiler on Aug 28, 2004 at 5:38 AM
To john sKerry,
If you had any guts at all you’d use your real name. But like most of your ilk you hide behind false names, threats and foul language. What is it that makes you and your kind react like this? Honestly, what is your problem?
Posted by Ken Hayes on Aug 28, 2004 at 6:29 AM
Sorry, Mr. Keillor, it is worse than that.
All you say is true, but why aren’t the Democrats calling liars liars? Kerry should call Bush a liar on a daily basis. He not only has lied from the beginning of his political career, he did it before the last election to decive the voters, and he has gotton more brazen as time goes on, and it will get worse. Democrats should call for impeachment even though the Republicans control Congress with malvolent intent.
It will be good for Kerrry to lose so that the modern version of Calligula and Nero can drive the population to revolution.
VOTE NADAR!
Ronald James
Posted by Ronald James on Aug 28, 2004 at 7:02 AM
Oh, poor Woebegon Garrison!
A discussion on the Republican Party is certainly fair game (although this was NOT a discussion but a monologue - which is OK too), but Mr. Keillor rants fit nicely into the Michael Moore wing of the Democratic Party. Keillor as Mark Twain? Sure. And Twain, as great a writer as there was, proved woebegonfully wrong on the great issues of his day. Don’t let anyone of us forget 9/11. It changed forever the history of this country. Over 200 years to forge our greatness without serious threat has ended. New York, Minneapolis and Los Angeles are now the front lines of a war against Islamofascism.
Posted by Rich on Aug 28, 2004 at 7:05 AM
You are wrong, Mr. Killor! It is worse than you say.
Bush is a liar. He should be told each day by prominent Democrats he is a liar.
Posted by Ronald James on Aug 28, 2004 at 7:05 AM
And WHY aren’t our Democratic politicians speaking out with this fervor?? It is SO frustrating and depressing.
Posted by Kym Farmer on Aug 28, 2004 at 7:17 AM
Interesting article, for sure. What I am certain of is that a discussion whether Americans should pick a Democrat or Republican for next president is futile - it is the whole system that needs changing. The corporations already own all of the institution of the so called democracy. Mark Twain said it well, a long time ago: We have the best Congress money can buy!
If you are serious about change, you need to start looking outside the box. Remember Pat Buchanan’s words: The democratic and republican parties are but two wings on the same bird of prey. I don’t see many solutions, other than voting with your feet and your wallets. The choice you are presented with for this presidential election is a pseudo choice.
Posted by Martin on Aug 28, 2004 at 7:38 AM
“Dante said that the hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who in time of crisis remain neutral.” (Of course the problem with Republicans like Mr. Oplas is that they are unable to see that this country is in a serious period of crisis since they are snookered by all the lies… So good luck in the afterlife…)
For all of the others, however, let’s join the author and say our piece too! Come along with the growing crowds who have decided to speak up and show their opposition to this administration and what it does to this beautiful country: just wear red every Friday between now and election day.
Wear a little or a lot—just be sure that when you leave your house to go about your day—to work, to school, to the store, to the gas station, wherever you go in your daily routine—that everyone who sees you will see that you are wearing red because you believe in freedom and you don’t agree with our current administration’s policies at home and abroad. We’ll see that lots of us are wearing red for freedom—because WE ARE THE MAJORITY. Between now and election day, ask everyone you know to wear red for “Freedom Fridays”.
Posted by Gil B. on Aug 28, 2004 at 7:44 AM
“Dante said that the hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who in time of crisis remain neutral”. (Of course Republicans like Mr. Oplas are unable to see that the country is in a serious period of crisis since they are totally snookered by all the lies… Good luck in the afterlife…) For all of the others however, let’s say our piece too! Just wear red every Friday between now and election day.
Wear a little or a lot—just be sure that when youleave your house to go about your day—to work, to school, to the store, to the gas station, wherever you go in your daily routine—that everyone who sees you will see that you are wearing red because you believe in freedom and you don’t agree with our current administration’s policies at home and abroad. We’ll see that lots of us are wearing red for freedom—because WE ARE THE MAJORITY. Between now and election day, ask everyone you know to wear red for “Freedom Fridays”.
Posted by Gil B. on Aug 28, 2004 at 7:49 AM
Garrison,
I, like pretty much everyone who has posted before me, agree with you!! What you have said is what needs to be said, and needs to be shouted from every tower! It needs to be heard… not just by the Democrats and the left leaning, but it needs to be heard and understood by the center and right as well!!
But where I disagree with you is that this is a Republican problem. It is not just republicans that are causing the problems in this country… it is all of right (and all of the left who refuse to stand up to them), and militants.
That being said, it leaves us in a very scary situation for this coming election because there is no candidate who is far enough left to make things better. There is no candidate who is not a militant… there is no candidate who will fix this country. I don’t even think it could be done in a single term, or two, or three, but Kerry is not the man to do it.
We need a president who is farther left than we will ever have a president be. We need someone who will represent the people and not allow politics compromise their beliefs.
We need a second party.
Eli Scott
Posted by Eli Scott on Aug 28, 2004 at 7:49 AM
Sadly, America has become the Land of the “sometimes-free” and Home of the scared.
One thing I don’t get is how can Bush use 9/11 to get re-elcted when he is responsible for the greatest FAILURE of government in history?
Posted by Rich on Aug 28, 2004 at 7:53 AM
Garrison
As another gentleman posted, I love you too, and thank you for putting such great words around our currnet national, and world tragedy. A lot of reading in the decline of empires really does suggest ours ma have already started down the decline on the backside, we are following observable historical patterns.
Just one quibble, though. A great portion of my work of late has centered on racism, its history, and the evolution of racist strategies. While I appreciate your images of Republicans of the Fifties and the era in general, wow, only White folks in small midwestern towns could see Republicans in that one light you cast (or a good deal of politicians in general). Those were still the days of Jim Crow, back of the bus, Whites Only drinking fountains, lynchings and all (of course we still have our occasional lynching). How that era is less open to criticism than our own, especially the “conservative” wing of it, is a bit perplexing, other than as a rhetorical tool.
The current neo-con false administration is so deeply evil, so deeply anti-human rights that it does not need the false idealized contrast from the Fifties. One more election in this direction and democracy’s murder will be complete, unlike Mark Twain’s who was able to say reports of his were premature.
I don’t think I have to look much further than to your words to find our generation’s Mark Twain.
Peace to you, peace to all, love your words, from a guy who used to live just down the road a piece from Lake Wobegone.
Dan Jordan, PhD
Posted by Dr Daniel Jordan on Aug 28, 2004 at 7:54 AM
Having George W. Bush for President of the United States is a big mistake.
He should be impeached.
Posted by john T. Lytle on Aug 28, 2004 at 7:58 AM
As a student of political history, I agree with poster Eli Scott. Although a Republican, I grew up in a house with a strong Democratic history. It is clear that conservative ascendency over the past 40 years has sent the liberals into a tailspin from which they have yet to emerge. Liberals laud Bill Clinton, but his success can be attributed to the co-option of moderate / conservative policies despite his best post-term efforts to plant a liberal face on his presidency. I would actually look forward to an unrequited liberal make a serious run for the presidency, whether within or without the Democratic Party and have a real debate on the political philosophy of the country. As an aside, during the liberal cowardice over the past 40 years, the one issue for which liberals should NEVER have ceded the high ground was on national defense. Despite the utter error of McGovern, the conservatives have made liberals pay for that mistake forever. McGovern NEVER represented historic liberal positions on national defense, yet the entire movement was branded as McGovernesque without proper response. A great failure of the movement. Christopher Hitchens represents the true historic liberal thought on defense today: he supports the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq because they ARE wars of liberal intervention, despite what GWB has called them. And the great mistake of today’s leftists? They hate Bush so much they don’t see what Hitchens sees. Another huge error that has helped to destroy liberal legitimacy in today’s polity.
Posted by Rich on Aug 28, 2004 at 8:01 AM
This is wonderful. How quickly this list has grown. We are living in uncertain times. The economy, the newly exposed “threat” made by Mr Greenspan yesterday re: Pensions and Social Security, the perpetual war on terror I won’t go on. There is, despite everything the Republicans would like us to believe, a malaise that permeates evry aspect of our daily lives. The Image of the Twin Towers falling remains a chilling reminder of the failures of this administrations ability to lift us up out of our collective depression. It just keeps falling!
It is amazing, that more people aren’t out there
expressing their outrage. How we’ve changed. Once upon a time we had leaders who thrilled us with their often, passionate views of; who we are, what we have accomplished and what we still can do to make our lives and the lives of others better.
I am old enough to remember: JFK /MLK/ Malcom/ and the other Great Americans of our generation who never flinched from telling it like it is.
Our current leaders treat us like a herd of cattle.
How are we going to rekindle theses flames? Where are the leaders who will resurrect our passions- relight the fires of our dreams and soothe the wounds still burning from the events of 9-11 with the balm of Gilead we so urgently need.
Bush offers us perpetual war. Kerry I am not sure but atleast I know that at one time in his life he turned his boat around to save a life!
Posted by Neil Friedman on Aug 28, 2004 at 8:18 AM
“Soothe the wounds still burning from the events of 9-11 . . .” What does that mean? The wounds to the left are self-inflicted because of their denial of its impact. The wounds to America remain unhealed because the threat exists. It is NOT Bush who ” . . .offers us perpetual war.” It will NOT BE Kerry who ” . . .offers us perpetual war” should he be elected. It is the Islamofascists who offer us perpetual war, safe in the knowledge that mutual assured destruction does not apply as a tactical response (despite our best efforts). New York. Minneapolis. Los Angeles. Moscow. London. Paris. Tokyo. Would that it not be so.
Posted by Rich on Aug 28, 2004 at 8:26 AM
Yes, indeed, Keillor, what you say is true but begs the question: why did we allow it to happen ? Are we stupid or greedy or both ? Why is it that, of all nations on earth, we honor the conservative and bash the liberal the most ? What is there in being a conservative other than wanting to keep what you’ve got, no matter the consequences ? Isn’t that a sickness ? Why should the qualifier “liberal” have fallen into disrepute, when its intent means spreading freedom to all equally ? We have been the willing victim, propelled by our own greed, of a cabal of leeches intent on securing the wealth of a continent to themselves. Before we can hope to get rid of those parasites, we ought to have a good look at ourselves.
Posted by Yvon Oscar Heckscher on Aug 28, 2004 at 8:37 AM
Great, except that those who need to read this the most probably never will.
Posted by David P. Brown on Aug 28, 2004 at 8:41 AM
Thank you, Garrison,
I think Kerry’s greatest challenge is to create the definite impression that he can outstrip Bush in taking care of the terrorist situation. AND, looking “friendly.” These are the only two things which some voters are clinging to as reasons for choosing the shrub in recent polls.
I want to be proud of America again!
Posted by Gloria C. on Aug 28, 2004 at 8:59 AM
A couple of years ago a child in Atlanta starved to death. Its unemployed parents could not find public relief or even shelter. The city’s resources were expended, and so the child died.
The President’s motto “Leave no child behind” ought to be reworded: “Leave no Republican child behind.”
Posted by David Schulenburg on Aug 28, 2004 at 9:08 AM
“I want to be proud of America again!” What’s stopping you? Stop with this self-pity stuff. What would make you proud? France and Germany agreeing with us on something? What makes the United States wrong and those countries right? And Mr. Shulenburg, your implication that GWB is guilty of the child’s death is, well, not truly worthy of the liberal mindset. Blame and hate never won an election. Just ask the Gingrichites about the 1996 election.
Posted by Rich on Aug 28, 2004 at 9:16 AM
It’s either going to be Bush or Kerry. Which one would we rather have for the next four years?
Please vote for Kerry.
Posted by Doug on Aug 28, 2004 at 9:16 AM
It’s time for action! One small thing we can all do: e-mail all tv news sources and suggest that they drop the “swift boat” coverage and use the time to report the lives taken (American and Iraqi) in this failed and illegal war. Parents who attempt suicide should NOT be the only mourners to receive the media’s attention.
Posted by LaVonne on Aug 28, 2004 at 9:23 AM
Unless we wish to be in the armies invading Syria, Iran and Noth Korea all Americans who love this country and Democracy need to register and vote against the Radcons currently occupying the White House. It is time to take our country back from these imposters. We need to be smarter and anticipate Karl Rove’s moves to get us embrioled in useless controversies that take the heat off the Bush regime’s record. Ignore Rove and co. and keep Bush’s failures and lies in the forefront.
Posted by Lyle Shargent on Aug 28, 2004 at 9:37 AM
“Something has gone seriously haywire with the Republican party.”
The real problem is what has happened to the Republican party in the last thirty years. The development of win-at-any-cost, scorched-earth campaigning has finally (and, sadly, necessarily) spread across the political spectrum and that is tragic. I have memories of true conservatives and principled Republicans, men like Goldwater, or Rockefeller, who could disagree and compromise at the same time. They could do so, I believe, because they were men of principle, not ideology.
In my youth I investigated ideologies, learning the arguments of everything from Marxism to market and I can argue dialectical materialism as easily as anarcho-libertarianism. As I have aged I have come to the conclusion that no ideology is safe or defensible. They are not safe because they do not admit compromise. The historian Shelby Foote once observed that “The real American genius is compromise.” I believe that he was correct, certainly that is what the American history I know teaches us. The great strength of ideology is the fervor it can inspire in its adherents. Its great danger is that its true believers are, as a consequence of their rigidity and refusal to question their own beliefs, vulnerable to manipulation by those with other goals. That, I believe, is what has happened to the Republican party. Ideologues have fallen prey to those who have agendas predicated on other priorities.
Mr. Keillor once satirized Unitarians as folks who believed that “a small light burned, somewhere…” That is the problem facing progressives and Democrats. We do not have the natural advantage of a rigid ideology. We endorse diversity and, yes, pragmatism, not the easy answers of orthodoxy.
We find ourselves the victims of our own success. We have been so free, rich, and safe, for so long, that the majority of the population no longer sees the need for voting. Or for the necessary self-education required for responsible voting, right or left.
We do need to respond to the hyperbole of the right, and I thank Mr. Keillor for doing so, and making me laugh. But we also have to perform a political miracle. We must forge a coalition of outraged moderates. I know, that sounds as oxymoronic as ‘soviet journalist’, or ‘compassionate conservative.’ But since I consider myself a ‘dead skunks and yellow stripes’ voter, since I want to do what is best for the country, and since I am viscerally outraged by the course the country has taken of late, I have a hope it is possible. Surely there are others like me out there? Look, I don’t care if you’re a Judeo-Christian-Islamic literalist or worship the Goddess or strive to realize the Eightfold Path. And I don’t care what you choose to do in your bedroom. I can honestly say that I don’t care what your position is on almost any issue. I can work with you if you are willing to honestly assess the best objective evidence and make policy decisions based on what is best for the nation, not some ideology. If you already know the answers to serious questions before I ask them, you’re in my crosshairs.
It’s time to put the grown-ups back in charge, and that’s going to mean some spanking.
Posted by John on Aug 28, 2004 at 10:17 AM
An invasion of Syria will not be necessary, thanks to a number of factors that will bring down that despotic regime soon: the democratization of Iraq, the REAL freedom fighting against the Al Assad dictatorship from within by the Kurds and the persistence of American covert action. Is this a bad thing? NO! An invasion of Iran will not be necessary, thanks to a number of factors that will bring down that theocratic regime soon: the democratization of Iraq and Afghanistan and the popular uprising of the younger Iranians, whose movement the United States supports with the same fervor the Wahabbists supported the Islamics in the 1970s. An invasion of North Korea will not be necessary thanks to a number of factors that will bring down that relic soon: Implosion. Implosion. And implosion. Implosion with help from the United States and Japan. And China. And Russia. A bad thing? For you perhaps. For the North Koreans, Iranians and Syrians. No. Liberal intervention? Yes.
Posted by Rich on Aug 28, 2004 at 10:24 AM
Julie, here’s another try. I’m doing fine. Talk to you later.
Dick
Posted by Dick Partlow on Aug 28, 2004 at 11:40 AM
Okay, gang; we’re all just preaching to the choir here. Start thinking of ways to get the message out to the enlightenable unenlightened!
Posted by Dennis Abbott on Aug 28, 2004 at 11:59 AM
The entire basis of the intervention in Iraq was bogus logic. The idea, essentially perpetrated by Wolfowitz, is that to stabalize the region, one must create a controlled destabilization, and that other countries in the area will then be awed into submission. Wolfowitz concluded that arabs can be impressed with power, and that that is the only way to deal with them.
The experience in Iraq proves that that is not the case. Instead of creating a controlled destabliziation to resolve the problems in the middle east, we have created a quagmire. Every day, more people join the cause against us, and the nations around Iraq, rather than being frightened of us, know that we cannot intervene. Recently, when told that North Korea could very well possess operational nuclear weapons, Bush shrugged. NK knows that there is no chance that we could interevene, and, with the necessity of pulling troops out of the penisula to shore up Iraq, the chance of the war continuing increases.
In the end, every president should be judged on their record, and Bush’s record is that he is a failure. Even regardless of whether you support his policies at home (policies well laid out by Mr. Keiller), you should vote against Bush because his model for dealing with foreign affairs is fundamentally flawed.
Posted by Lionél Dripps on Aug 28, 2004 at 12:11 PM
Sir,Remind me to give you a hug if Im in town.How’s that lake said again?I’ll listen to your show on NPR in case you say it again.Thanks,Gary
Posted by Gary Moraco on Aug 28, 2004 at 12:21 PM
Good Stuff Mr. Keillor!
What you say is clearly true, but only one way of expressing what many of us feel and live every day.
You hardly touch on the creeping loss of liberty that the economic exploitation of everything imposes on the peoples of the world. This loss is a mere symptom, but an important indicator of the state of our country and of the world. People do not freely choose to be bombed or shot or locked in a cage and held without contact with the rest of humanity. Doing these things to people creates the sort of hatred that those 19 used to drive themselves on 9/11. Doing these things is clearly wrong and will cost all of us for decades or perhaps centuries into the future.
Hatred and the ideas that fuel it are passed from person to person, but only take root in those that have hope driven from them. Neither hope nor hate has ever appeared in any bank balance, so the forces of capitalism that wield much of the power in our country will never respect them. Something else must serve to save our country and the world from fear and hate and give us hope. Flag waving, cheap food and 150 channels of cable will not do it.
You speak of the degradation of the Republican party. The Democratic party is hardly better today. Hardly different.
Perhaps the differences are enough…
You speak of fear. You demonstrate for the rest of us that we can conquer fear and do what is necessary. It is as noble a demonstration as any warrior shows in battle. Your celebrity, and the way you gained it, gives you both a podium and an obligation. You are to be commended for your courage in fulfilling that obligation, though you surely know some will not agree with you. Thank you for speaking your mind.
Change is in the air and your thoughts are a bellwether.
A.M.
Posted by A. McNibble on Aug 28, 2004 at 1:04 PM
Thank you,thank you Mr.Keillor. Now if we can get you a weekly spot on TV (or radio).You really know how to negate the lying, swill we are getting from the neocons.
It’s to late for a ticket with Keillor/Maher.But thank you guys for being there.
Posted by Stan on Aug 28, 2004 at 1:06 PM
Alleluhia Mr. Keillor! You are my hero.
Posted by Danielle on Aug 28, 2004 at 1:19 PM
Garrison -
I very much agree with your commentary.
I am a life-long Republican that will be voting this year for John Kerry. I’m not sure that he will do any better by Americans than GWB - I’m doing it mainly to fire the incumbent.
And if John Kerry wins and doesn’t do something about the flow of American Jobs to Asia, I’ll vote to fire HIM in 2008!
www.rescueamericanjobs.com
www.fairus.com
Posted by Stephen Landess on Aug 28, 2004 at 1:24 PM
“Sir, you will never understand the depth of Southern Rancour.”
Mr. Cowpox: WHO CARES!?! Your side lost the war you pathetic racist trash!
Posted by John on Aug 28, 2004 at 2:45 PM
It does my heart good to know that there are passionate people out there with a will to think for themselves and try to understand how this country is being twisted to the agenda of a few elite few in power… but it makes me sad that so many of us have misdirected anger.
“Our current leaders treat us like a herd of cattle.”
I am unsure who the ‘us’ is referring to, but I will take it that it is the American people as a whole, and with that in mind I cant disagree… we are being treated like a herd of cattle because we are living like a herd of cattle. The larger group of Americans, young and old, right and left, punk democrat or republican, eat what they are told with no real urge to think, fight, or act for themselves…
“Americans who love this country and Democracy need to register and vote against the Radcons currently occupying the White House”
This makes me happy too! Because I do believe that Americans need to rally against radcons and take this country back to where I really believe it could be… the problem is that that will not happen via voting in this election. The left is virtually non-existent in national politics. There are no good options open to us. If i had to name one thing about this article and the replies to it that I agree with the least, its that this is the fault of the republicans… I do not believe that. It is too narrow to say that republicans are to blame for everything… conservatives and passive liberals are the larger group that bares the burden.
Any American who understood it should be enraged about something like the USA PATRIOT act being passed, and every single congressman (save one) voted for it… that is because conservatives pushed it and liberals didn’t have the spine to stand against it. Our ‘representatives’ didn’t and still don’t represent us.
That is the problem, not republicans or a view differing from ours, it is the one-party system that has been created in this country that is the problem.
Eli
Posted by Eli Scott on Aug 28, 2004 at 3:32 PM
I couldn’t agree with Mr. Keillor more, and I am glad he has a pulpit. I am also thankful that so many of the people that replied have intelligent and incisive comments about Mr. Keillor’s commentary.
I am disappointed, but not surprised by the foregoing Oplas comment because it typifies the sanctimonious, ignorant attitude that so many bushies have about their flawed hero. Let’s not forget, this president used to blow up frogs with a firecracker when he was a kid, and while real men and women were fighting or protesting during Vietnam he was a drunken cheeleader vomiting his way through Yale and the Air National Guard. Tragically for us and much of the rest of the world, this frat house fool gifted with too much money and too little brains has done well (well, that is if you count the hand up he’s had all his life from his daddy’s friends).
It is a sad comment on the current state of the country and the ability of a people to critically think that such an untalented, illiterate individual could become president. I feel sorry for Oplas and his or her ilk because it must be terribly unfulfilling to be so enamored of mediocrity. At least my heroes deserve the accolades.
Well, enough said. Please, all of you vote this November - our country is at stake. Oh yeah, Mr. Keillor, please keep on spearing the republicans and bring the Prairie Home Companion Show to central New York. Thank you.
Posted by Chris on Aug 28, 2004 at 3:47 PM
You have expressed my feelings in a way I could not.Those who would put the present resident back in the White House do not want a President but a Dictator. We are headed for an autocrisy the likes of which the modern world has never seen. Garrison, I am reminded of the old hymn that says “We are the sweet selected few, the rest may all be damned, there’s room enough in Hell for you, we don’t want heaven crammed.” It’s time for a huge change !!!
Posted by Donald Rahn on Aug 28, 2004 at 3:51 PM
Someone posted that those who can afford to make political contributions, should. True, but ... even if you cannot afford to write a big fat check, go ahead and make a donation to John Kerry’s campaign. Is there any way you can afford 4 more years of George W. ?
Posted by Chrissie Ford on Aug 28, 2004 at 4:56 PM
My brother Garrison speaketh my mind, and I am grateful.
Posted by Jeany on Aug 28, 2004 at 5:19 PM
My greatest regret is that there is no real punishment for the likes of George Dubbyah Bush.
Like his father before him, the worst that can happen is he’s thrown out of office, then he promptly joins the boards of hundreds of companies, and uses all the connections he’s made while in the oval office to peddle influence and profit personally.
Where’s the downside to that?
Posted by Garry Daniels on Aug 28, 2004 at 5:43 PM
For the first time since the Republicans stoned the finest President of this land without mercy for a human foiblewhich although not ommendable has been common among those in power, and at horrendous cost, and then with the grace of the high and mighty judges of this land stole the presidency away from the party preferred by the vast majority of US citizens I read your letter and begin to have a wee bit of hope again. Not pride; Mr. Bush has demolished my pride in being an American, and my hubris and security are gone.
I was stunned when a friend whom I’d previously thought astute admitted being a supporter of this inept, power seeking megalomaniac who has been bought and paid for and stamped fini by those whose agenda does not include support for this planet, let alone our countrymen. And he doesn’t even know it, pauvre petit puppet!
Incredible what diabolical PR men can create out of smoke with a burlap bag full of dollars, making a mahogany desk out of a knotty pine bough. But not for you, and not for me.
VOTE!!!
Posted by Pat Stephens on Aug 28, 2004 at 5:49 PM
Great writing, Mr. Keillor, as usual. Some thoughts for all of you other scribes -
I just spent a large part of my day canvassing door-to-door for Kerry and our wonderful, idiosyncratic Senator Russ Feingold. You all may remember him as the only senator who did not vote for the Patriot Act. The man most likely to oppose him, once the Republicans have their primary next month, has a commerical running where he takes Feingold to task for failing to support “our president.”
You must understand that the Republican Party/Media Machine have succeeded in convincing themselves and much of the population that they actually won the last election. Even those who voted for Gore or Nader fail to emphasize that Bush got the votes of far less than half the voting population last time, and that translates to a small percentage of those actually qualified to vote if only they had done so. One must never stop repeating this truth. One must never use the term “reelection” in reference to Bush, simply because he was not elected in the way most people understand that term.
Further, this may be the first time in history that a campaign strategy has been based on characterizing more than half the voters as morons and traitors. How is it that non-Republicans have been willing to sit still for this for nearly four years? I never fail to firmly point out to any right winger I encounter that in fact, there is a substantial number of people who love this country who believe our current president is an illegitimate occupant of the White House, that we have tolerated his shenanigans without taking to the streets or even being particularly disrespectful, and that we have given him every reasonable chance to discharge his duties with competence and grace. He has utterly failed to leverage the opportunity provided to him by the Supreme Court, and now shall have to make a case for himself in the court of public opinion.
The good news is this: I spoke with many people today in an area that is solidly Republican. The majority told me that they would never vote for Bush again, meaning they had last time. They further told me that their wives/husbands, parents/siblings, etc. were all voting for Kerry. The few Republicans I encountered who are still supporting Bush were often willing to answer my questions about their concerns as voters and all but one named health care as their number one concern. Many of them are going to split their tickets and vote for Feingold. Whenever I heard this, I asked them to take another look at Kerry, and some said they would.
The Bush supporters were uniformly defensive, though I am a middle aged woman, introduced myself as a neighbor and was very laid back, smiling, etc. Their houses tended to be adorned with flags and wooden flag ornaments, and lots of signs saying, “God Bless America.” They seemed afraid…embattled.
The Kerry supporters, by vivid contrast, were defiantly angry. They were all in that mode of “I’m mad as hell and I’m just not going to take it anymore!” It was energizing and inspiring to speak with these people.
Then there were a few undecided voters and most of them were willing to discuss their issues. I asked them if they really believed the current administration was going to address those needs over the next four years. None stated confidentIy that they felt that was the case. I asked them to consider Kerry. I know that I made a difference today.
So, if you possibly can, please volunteer to walk a neighborhood. Dress nice, put on your party manners as my mother used to say, and just get out there and talk with people. I think there are many people who simply need to see that there are lots of nice, normal, sane people supporting Kerry. Change is frightening for some people, but we can make it less intimidating. We can show them that they don’t need to be afraid. Give it a try and if you just can’t bring yourself to talk with your neighbors, or folks who are a little different from you…well then maybe you better work on that.
Posted by Joanne Roush on Aug 28, 2004 at 6:06 PM
I’ve just emailed this piece to friends and family. I’m doing my patriotic duty tomorrow morning - marching past Madison Square Garden and protesting the RNC. We don’t want them here. They are exploiting 9/11 and it is shameful. I’m glad to see that the firefighters told Bloomberg and Bush that they would only do a photo-op in one of the fire houses that were closed down due to lack of money. Right on guys! My sister is a NYC cop and she supports Kerry. Any union member that votes for Bush needs to seriously re-think their position and vote in their best interest.
Posted by Kim on Aug 28, 2004 at 6:06 PM
These words are beyond anger—they are laced with an agony of our beloved country snatched from us. This is the election of our lives. The course of America must change or we will end up like the Soviet Union—decayed, hopeless, and fractured—and unspeakable poverty for the working class. Bush should be impeached for incompetence at the least and abuse of power at the most telling. This IS a call to arms at the voting booths. We absolutely must energize our young people to vote and then take their rightful place in making this country great once more.
Marty Meyer, Ph.D.
Posted by Marty Meyer on Aug 28, 2004 at 6:14 PM
Inre “A Pen Warmed-Up in Hell,” we shout Bravo!
Posted by Leo Goeke and Anne Fullam Goeke on Aug 28, 2004 at 6:16 PM
I LOVE YOU, Garrison! Be you scathingly serious or phenomenally facetious, you are always THE GREATEST! (Love those Republican sketches you do on radio!)
I keep telling myself that the right and the good have got to prevail because God will not have it any other way. Yet in these times it seems practically hopeless. It is totally scary the way the right-wingers have appropriated the radio airwaves unto themselves; one can scarcely find a sane voice in that genre anymore, you and PBS being that rare exception.
PLEASE - KEEP FIGHTING THE GOOD FIGHT; WE CANNOT AFFORD TO LOSE!
Posted by E. C. Roy on Aug 28, 2004 at 6:49 PM
Forget what you have always voted. Forget that your parents always voted the same way. Ask yourself if you are better off today than you were 4 years ago (health care, education, jobs, economy, veteran benefits, Clean air, etc), then vote your conscience on November 2, 2004. Don’t buy into the argument that you don’t change Presidents during a war. The war against terrorism will continue far beyond the 8 year presidential tenure possible. The war against Iraq was unjust and has cost the lives of over 972 Americans. The arguments for this war were all bogus - the only reason for going to war was if the threat was imminent - it was not. Americans don’t initiate wars without just cause. Vote Bush and his chickenhawks out on November 2, 2004.
Posted by Cummiskey on Aug 28, 2004 at 7:06 PM
Hey Rich,
Knock it off. This is not a chat board. State your position then get the hell off so others can post.
Posted by Cummiskey on Aug 28, 2004 at 7:13 PM
Trillions of dollars are at stake and the facist right will leave no stone unturned to continue on their present path. A second Bush administration will finish ripping the guts out of our national treasures. If the neocons are succussful in re-installing him as President, my mom’s favorite old saying will ring true. It is simply, “You ain’t seen nothing yet.”
Posted by Phil Henderson on Aug 28, 2004 at 7:14 PM
I LOVE YOU, Garrison! Be you scathingly serious or phenomenally facetious, you are always THE GREATEST! (Love those Republican sketches you do on radio!)
I keep telling myself that Good and Right have got to prevail because God will not have it any other way; however, in these times it all seems so very hopeless. It is totally scary the way the right-wingers have appropriated the talk-radio media unto themselves. One can scarcely find a sane voice in this genre anymore - you and PBS being the rare exception.
KEEP FIGHTING THE GOOD FIGHT; WE CANNOT AFFORD TO LOSE THIS ONE!
Posted by E. C. Roy on Aug 28, 2004 at 7:34 PM
A piece sent to me, on the internet, spewing hate for the Arabs and claiming that they would never say they were sorry to the prisoners abused at Abu Garib. made me realize that the party of compassion ‘under God” jad lost all sight of humanity, but were hateful war mongers, greedy, self-serving, self engrandizing with no thought how small our planet is and that we need to care for it and all those alive on it.
Your letter encapsulates it beautifully and the extent they will go without an ethical whim to win at all costs - truly, we are looking EVIL in the face.
I always thought this country was strong enough with checks and balances to withstand any idiot in the White House, but GWB has proven me wrong over and over again. His henchmen have had over 30 years of experience in Dirty tricks and he is their pawn and willing puppet.
To save our democrcy as a way of life - we must support Kerry/Edwards - men with honor and not the depraved history of GWB.
Posted by Betty on Aug 28, 2004 at 7:44 PM
Hmmm…<a >Lincoln</a> was no friend of liberty:
My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and it is not either to save or destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union.
—Abraham Lincoln
I would argue that the Republicans are returning to the policies of Lincoln (strong centralized government).
The concentration of wealth and power in the hands of the few is the death knell of democracy. No republic in the history of humanity has survived this. The election of 2004 will say something about what happens to ours. The omens are not good
Hmmm…Kerry’s net worth is <a >20 times more</a> than George Bush’s net worth. Or look at the party affiliation of most of the <a >top 100</a> individual contributors in this election. Methinks Keillor doesn’t really mind the concentration of wealth and power—he’s just upset that the power isn’t being concentrated in the hands he favors.
If Keillor were really concerned about the concentration of power, he would be advocating downsizing government, and returning money and power to individuals and local level goverments. Unfortunately, both Keillor’s candidate Kerry and Bush are just fighting to see who gets control of an ever expanding government.
Posted by Christopher Rasch on Aug 28, 2004 at 7:52 PM
How honored I feel to have adopted Minnesota as my home. THank you Mr. Keillor. Let me echo Jacob’s call for those who can support Kerry financially to do so, and those of us who cannot to volunteer and volunteer again. WHen Mr. Reagan was elected I lit a candle, closeted myself in my studio, cried and prayed because of what I feared this election might hold. Thus when Mr. G.W. Bush was elected I hoped that my worse fears would prove to be unfounded (as they were to a degree by Mr. Reagan’s election). I was wrong. Our civilization is already in steep decline and in grave danger if we allow these people to continue to run rampant.
Posted by elizabeth on Aug 28, 2004 at 8:04 PM
I don’t understand why the party of the most intelligent people can’t un-seat Bush. Democrats have as supporters, actors and actresses who can convince the world with such powerful portrayals of any human characteristic and personality at will. They now also have big money behind them. Why can’t the Democrats convince the moderate Republicans that Bush is dangerous and undeserving of another term? What am I missing?
Posted by ron on Aug 28, 2004 at 8:28 PM
Dear Garrison, I spoke to you at the Tanglewood concert last year about how afraid I was by this governement. You said it would be alright, don’t be afraid. Are you afraid now? We gave in without much protest to the sham in Florida and the Supreme Court appointment, thinking it was best for the country. But now we will not go the way of Germany in the 30s. Good people there were deceived too until they lost all rights and it was too late to protest. We must look at Corporationism. Corporationism gives the legal right to businesses to do what individuals cannot do with out breaking the law. This governement in attacking government itself is trying to free corporations from all laws that require that the common good be protected. This is not Americanism. This is not freedom and justice for all. This is the beginning of capitalistic totalitarianism. I am so glad you are writing plainly.
Posted by Molly on Aug 28, 2004 at 8:42 PM
Read your article. I totally understand your anger because I feel it too. It runs through my veins, it pulses in my head, it hardens my heart.
I have seriously thought of moving out fo the country should Bush win. People do not realize what damage this administration has caused and how much time and effort it will take to repair the damage both domestically and foreign.
Posted by alicia on Aug 28, 2004 at 9:05 PM
Books that expose this administration are best-sellers.
F-911 is the highest grossing documentary on opening weekend ever.
Theaters and auditoriums are SRO when liberal and progressive speakers are in town.
The majority of actual votes were for Gore in 2000.
Look up the definition of juggernaut in the dictionary. But God forbid any liberal might sound strident!
Posted by Jcaldicott on Aug 28, 2004 at 9:07 PM
Thank you so much for this. Please keep writing, sharing and helping us to articulate this very very long list of what this administration has done to us and our country.
Posted by Ann on Aug 28, 2004 at 9:18 PM
It’s amazing that so many “little” sheep follow this. I’m sorry that you all are angry about losing the 2000 vote. I’m sorry that you all have lost the Senate and the House. You all should really get a grip on fighting back, (except for this mess).
I truly feel sorry for the Dems becuase you all have to support John Kerry.. had you nominated Joe Lieberman you would have been all set, but you made the choice of John Kerry. Just don’t blame us, because you all like to do that. And don’t cry on Nov 3rd becuase you all like to do that also.
Posted by Joel Pfyffer on Aug 28, 2004 at 9:24 PM
Observe playground bulllies. They inflate their self-images by belittling others and calling those whom they harass crybabies, whether anyone is crying or not.
Bullies: your punching bags aren’t crying now. They’re angry, and getting organized, and learning to use their mouths too, only with brains engaged.
Posted by Jcaldicott on Aug 28, 2004 at 9:38 PM
Wow.. you are feeling the heat, becuase I was not even rough.. it’s ok.. we’ll comfort you on Nov 3rd
Posted by Joel Pfyffer on Aug 28, 2004 at 9:45 PM
I agree with everything that Keillor says, save for his oft-heard statement that America is a “great” country. Isn’t this type of egoistic pontificating the very same slogan that the Republicans often use to incite Americans into a type of national chuvanism that encourages us to rationalize support for everything the U.S. government ever does, here and abroad? Is this slogan and belief not the very crux of the misuse of patriotism by those overladden with hubris?
I am not looking to get anyone here angry, nor try to diminish any of the wonderful observations and anecdotes that Keillor made in this article, but simply to add a bit of critical thought on the validity of that one particular slogan. Let’s concentrate on turning America into a nation of *good* people, rather than encouraging to think of ourselves as *great.* From the perspective of most of the rest of the world, America is not “great,” but a problem. Let’s see it as such until we can make it over as per Keillor’s suggestions, and not dive head-first into the same type of thinking that is used to justify the draconian actions of the post-Nixonian Republicans.
Posted by Chris N on Aug 28, 2004 at 9:58 PM
Mr. Keiller,
I’m the daughter of immigrants; my father and mother came to America in 1956 with only the clothes on their backs, not knowing a word of English. They came here fleeing Communism.
My father fought in the Hungarian Revolution of 1956; a few years ago, his fellow Freedom Fighters (who are now all proud American citizens) choose him to represent them when then-Gov. Edgar proclaimed October 23rd Hungarian Freedom Fighter Day in honor of their attempt to fight down the mighty Soviet army with molotov cocktails and blood, sweat, and many, many tears.
My parents came to this country so that their descendants could live in peace and freedom. As your masterful writing and my very own eyes have shown these many years, the dream of my parents—and the sacrafices they made to come to this nation—may soon have been in vain.
Fortunately, there *are* those who show themselves to be heroic in trying and difficult times—risking their own comfort and security and position for the greater good.
Thank you for being counted among the heroes, Mr. Keiller.
In gratitude,
Ilona
======================
P.S. As Elie Weisal stated at the occasion of accepting the Nobel Peace Prize:
“And then I explain to him how naïve we were, that the world did know and remained silent. And that is why I swore never to be silent whenever wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation.
We must take sides.
Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant.
Wherever men and women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must – at that moment – become the center of the universe.”
Posted by ilona on Aug 28, 2004 at 10:52 PM
If Bush gets in again we will be in another war. We have a murder rate that would put any other western nation to shsme.
What did the Taliban do with the money (43 million dollars) that Bush gave to them in May of 2001?
Richard
Posted by Richard White on Aug 29, 2004 at 2:22 AM
I don’t know the Republicans ever as the party of moderates (“the Nixon moderates vanished like the passenger pigeon”). It has its deluded moderate followers but never its leaders. Keillor does not mention Joe McCarthy, the great Republican immoderate from his neighboring state of Wisconsin of whom Nixon was just a twin in those sainted years of the ‘50s. But this is just carping. Keillor hits the nail on the head when he talks about W. The only way out of the quicksand that guy is immersing us in and which Keillor so well describes is to vote Kerry in on Nov. 3rd.
Posted by Bob Silk on Aug 29, 2004 at 2:24 AM
George the II’s accession to the presidency of the United States will mark the date in history when our nation’s experiment in republican democracy ended. With an ersatz election under his belt and an unauthorized war against a third world country to dispose of a tinhorn dictator, the constitution has become a dead letter and the congress a “confederacy of dunces”.
Freedom of speech and association will be the next victims. Already, those who do not support this cabal are being accused of treason. Soon, under the guise of homeland security and faith-based initiatives, government spies and infiltrators will be everywhere; in the workplace, in the churches, in the universities, all with the acquiescence and compliance of the media. Some citizens will be silenced and then “re-educated”. Others will simply disappear. Am I paranoid? You had better believe it! The bright shining light that was America has been extinguished. The dark ages have returned and we shall all “Inherit the Wind”.
Regards,
Joseph V. Purcell
1400 Forrest Avenue
Nashville, Tennessee 37206
615.650.0141
Posted by Joe Purcell on Aug 29, 2004 at 3:04 AM
Garrison should have spoken these words at the Democratic convention. Of course, the networks and cable outlets would not have allowed them to be “aired”. Just so much hype. Well these words in his article are so powerful and so true, it is imperative that the American public hear them over and over again. This nation is in peril if Bush is again “chosen” (never elected). We have a hard job ahead, and we must all get to work. Our survival depends on it!
Posted by Grace Love on Aug 29, 2004 at 3:39 AM
Lots of creative hand-wringing and intellectual muscle-flexing going on here, but what are you all doing? Could we hear some comments about how folks are reaching out to others in their community to persuade them to join us in actively opposing Bush? We need to encourage one another to get on our feet and actually do something! It doesn’t take any courage or effort to sit around and talk to our like-minded friends about how bad things are getting.
One thing that’s been pointed out, and I think accurately, by the media is that the Democratic Party is not really a party, but a coalition of interest groups with little in common aside from their loathing for George Bush. I’ve been out canvassing among working people, and doing follow-up phoning, and this is true. If we work hard, we may achieve a victory in November - but that will only be the beginning. We must continue to work and sacrifice beyond the election to build a true progressive coalition that will support local candidates and begin the strangulation of this fascist/corporatist weed that has taken root.
It is true that in many ways Kerry just puts a prettier face and an expanded vocabulary on the situation in which we find ourselves. It’s not going to be enough to replace this president and his advisors and turn the clock back to the Clinton regime. Once the election is over, no matter which way it goes, the real work will begin. It’s not going to be enough to stop the ship of state, we then have to turn it around in a very narrow channel.
Are liberals and progressives willing to roll up their sleeves and make some personal sacrifices to do this? It is clear that the Republican base has been persuaded to vote in a manner that is contrary to their economic interests to support this regime. You could argue that they are not aware of the threat to their civil liberties and world peace, but you would be at least somewhat mistaken. They don’t always see it that way. They are, in fact, willing to sacrifice some of their own liberties in order to deny them to homosexuals, women seeking abortions, those who do not attend churches of which they approve, and anyone whom they perceive to be a threat to their personal security. This is what we are confronting.
So, what are we willing to do beyond posting to message boards, congratulating each other on our profound grasp of the situation, and joining the occasional march down main street? This is going to take lots of money and muscle. Have we got it?
Posted by Joanne Roush on Aug 29, 2004 at 4:37 AM
What a shame that many of these “solemn” comments are filled with bile and name calling, not only of President Bush, but of his supporters.
Posted by Rich on Aug 29, 2004 at 5:20 AM
Amen!
Posted by Michael Safranek on Aug 29, 2004 at 5:54 AM
A brief note to three posters before signing off. I have enjoyed receiving others’ postings since I posted on Friday night, but the volume of emails has overwhelmed me (and I have some hay fields to cut today).
First to Joanne—you’re right that we must work, and work hard, in the next ten weeks to trim Bush. I spent last Monday and Tuesday in West Memphis, Arkansas registering new voters—13 hours a day in the sun, but worth every minute. I helped register at least 56 new voters, 95%+ of whom are Kerry supporters. Two of them had not voted for decades (one woman for 31 years!!) but to a person, everyone felt that they could not stay on the sidelines this time.
If well-grounded fear is what we need to revive our democracy, then I can say that “it’s all good”. But it will be better if we do everything necessary to retake America from the right-wing coup that started in every community that denied people the right to vote in 2000 and ended in the Supreme Court. So all of us should carry voter registration forms with us at all times, engage everyone we know in a brief political conversation and—if someone presents an appropriate opportunity—we should register them on the spot. You can download voter registration forms for your state easily off the net, or pick them up at your election commission. We have about a month in most states to get this done.
Two final brief notes: To Christopher—Kerry’s fortune is not 20 times greater than Bush’s wealth; his wife’s fortune is. And Republicans keep forgetting that her first husband was a Republican. So please don’t confuse who accumulated that wealth with where it ended up.
And Joel, Joel—what can we say, oh ye of simple mind and simpler phrase? Yes, we feel the heat of righteous indignation, and it is impelling many more of us to action than ever before. And in November, you will see the light—attached to a speeding, hundred mile long train—filled with fed-up folks who will send your squashed self behind your suburban, walled-in gates, to sulk in Humvee-wrapped silence. But don’t be surprised to find fewer of your too-well-off neighbors with you. Because those neighbors whose prior Republicanism was based on some of the worthy principles that Garrison articulated early on in his article won’t be there with you. They’ll be outside the walls that Duh-bya helped build between us, sharing with the rest of us the free air of a no-longer-foundering democracy.
As one of the Arad news reporters said in “Control Room”, “The world doesn’t need another superpower to keep America in check—we have democracy and the Constitution to do that, as long as the American people continue to embrace and use those tools for their own sake and the sake of the world at large.” How true. And how sad for those like Joel who crawled out from under their rocks a while back. The heat and light of a democratic sunlight will crack and wither their slimy skin and festering brains soon enough.
Defend women. Defend children. Defend the elderly. Defend the soldiers. Defend people of color. Defend America. Defend the earth. Defeat Duh-bya.
Posted by Bernie Ellis on Aug 29, 2004 at 5:58 AM
I’m not the biggest Keillor fan. If Mark Twain were Keillor, he’d have written about the good, old Tory colonial days swilling a cool one at the Tubby Boar Inn or dancing at the corn shuck—instead of writing about things like slavery.
But he does hit one over the fence now and then. This one is good writing _and_ significant.
Posted by steve on Aug 29, 2004 at 6:05 AM
Garrison Keillor is a soft-spoken genius with an incredible gift for telling tales that take all of us to where we would like to be. I listen to the PHC every week. Someone else said it right that he hit the nail on the head so hard that the head popped off. My hat is off to an amazing patriotic man whose mission I share. I love and celebrate you, Mr. Keillor.
Posted by Brad Turner on Aug 29, 2004 at 6:18 AM
National treasures? For this administration, they are just resources to be exploited.
Social programs? For this administration, they are evil, and need to be bankrupted so even a new administration won’t afford to reinstate them.
Posted by Kurt Christensen on Aug 29, 2004 at 6:23 AM
What a bunch of crap.
Left winged nutcases.
Posted by Liberal Hater on Aug 29, 2004 at 6:32 AM
I’ll have you know I voted for the mouthpiece of NPR before I voted against him.
Posted by Dave on Aug 29, 2004 at 6:41 AM
Bush is evil and is hiding behind someone he calls God, and someone I call evil. The idiots that will vote for Bush cannot see the evil he exudes. This is a battle against evil and all it entails.
Posted by Mary on Aug 29, 2004 at 6:44 AM
I LOVE YOU, Garrison! Be you scathingly serious or phenomenally facetious, you are always THE GREATEST! (Love those Republican sketches you do on radio!)
I keep telling myself that Right and Good have got to prevail because God will not have it any other way; yet, in these times, it seems so very hopeless. It is totally scary the way that the right-wingers have appropriated the talk-radio medium unto themselves. One can scarcely find a sane voice in that genre anymore - you and PBS being the rare exception.
KEEP FIGHTING THE GOOD FIGHT; WE CANNOT AFFORD TO LOSE THIS ONE!!!
God bless and keep you!
Posted by E. C. Roy on Aug 29, 2004 at 6:45 AM
If this is the “best President since the end of WWII” it must be worse than I thought.
This is the person who has difficulty understanding the difference between “prosecution” and “persecution” (“W” speech in 2001), someone who has misjudged (as indicated by his own admission last week), misled (by the findings of the 9/11 commission) and mismanaged (by the indications of the lack of leadership in regard the prison incident, to Najaf, Haliburton, etc, etc, etc.).
Posted by Tim on Aug 29, 2004 at 7:06 AM
It is sad when so many in our country are sitting in the dark and have yet to see the light. If going to war in Iraq after 9/11 was not enough to turn on the light, then I’m not sure what is. Instead of fighting the terrorism that hurt and killed so many innocent people, the powerful leaders in Washington have created a “hotbed” for it to grow. We need a man who is a leader and stands for what he believes in instead of an illiterate puppet on a string who does what those under him (like his daddy and Cheney) tell him to do. This country was built on democracy and freedom for all, but that freedom is slowly being taken away. Wake up America before it is too late!!!
Posted by Virg on Aug 29, 2004 at 7:07 AM
Thank you,keillor, I am glad you are expressing the sentiments of so many of us that are not represented in the main stream media. I always say, “they aren’t polling me!” I am depressed as many of the commenters seem to be. I work as a hairdresser in an area where people are from all economic levels and I am upset because so many people have no Idea how much worse off we are after 3+ years of the bush administration. We need to get that liar and his corporate cronies out of office! It is going to take years to udo the damage, and our children will be paying for the mistakes we have made. Lets get everyone to vote for Kerry/Edwards in 2004. as Arianna Huffington says"Bush republicans have offered a messianic vision of a new world built on tax cuts.This call has proved incredibly alluring:its clear,it’s broad, and it’s accessible. Democrats need to present a vision that is equally clear, broad and accessible, and that answers the fundamental question:what sort of america do we want to live in?”
Posted by cindy on Aug 29, 2004 at 7:52 AM
test
Posted by seamus on Aug 29, 2004 at 8:17 AM
I believe the Bush administration’s power derives from the nation’s love affair with passive media absorption. We’ve become a nation of followers and cheerleaders, and we follow politics and the discussion of cultural values with the blind allegiance of a sports fan, my cause right or wrong. We talk the talk, but no longer walk any walk. No Existentialist angst allowed, you are what you “believe”.
Someone mentioned the incongruity of GOP support by low wage earners and uneducated people generally. The reason is distraction, to avoid discussing real, more complex issues, issues that demand more than the voter’s arm-chair indignation.
Bush has made a political career out of pushing issues that do not require citizens to actually do anything, other than be pissed off at some group they’d prefer to judge than try to understand. The great uniter, indeed!
Bush convinces his adherents that support for these issues means he’s on their side, when his real agenda continues to be completely handing over the regulatory functions of government to those special business industry interests, who do not have the good of the citizenry at heart.
The next time a right-to-lifer is spewing their uncompromising opinions, ask them how many underprivileged children they’ve adopted, or what contribution they’ve made to easing the suffering of the world’s most unfortunate.
The next time an Iraq-war supporter explains why your children should die in a foreign land to protect American oil interests, while the Bush administration pays lip service to any real alternative energy plans, which might free us of our dependency on foreign oil, check their credentials. This will weed out the growing ranks of Chicken Hawks, who identify themselves these days, by congratulating you up front, for your service.
I always believed that the conservative view of business was the less regulation by the government, the better, except when it’s clear that a business or industry is acting against the public interest. Teddy Roosevelt was a great example of a conservative president who embodied this value. Jim Hightower recently joked that the business special interests no longer have to worry about lobbying the government, as they have, in effect, become the government, a fact reflected in Bush naming only industry figures to key regulatory posts, from the cabinet level on down.
This is an aspect that is never discussed by the GOP, and instantly draws name-calling and ridicule from the right when someone raises the issue. To use one of far too many examples, does any one seriously believe that Dick Cheney, and the Enrons of the energy industry, held private meetings to develop energy legislation, so that they can further the interests of the average citizen?
Teddy Roosevelt once said, “Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official, save exactly to the degree in which he himself stands by the country. It is patriotic to support him insofar as he efficiently serves the country. It is unpatriotic not to oppose him to the exact extent that by inefficiency or otherwise he fails in his duty to stand by the country. In either event, it is unpatriotic not to tell the truth, whether about the president or anyone else.”
Posted by Steve on Aug 29, 2004 at 8:27 AM
Total elitist BS.
When the left starts praising Nixon and the Vietnam war, it is obvious that they are as unprincipled as their critics said they were when they protested them.
Dennis
Posted by Dennis on Aug 29, 2004 at 8:51 AM
Our nation is at peril for what we once took for granted, but Kerry is showing himself to be totally inept at getting his arms around the issues.His response to the slime Swift boat ads was late and limp, and this demonstates to many that his leadership skills in a time of such crisis for his campaign are lacking, as so much of his campaign has been.
Posted by Al Henry on Aug 29, 2004 at 9:00 AM
Excuse me, for I suspect my message will not be immediately welcome in this “fest”, I just want to say something to you in all sincerity:
1. You all sound so intolerant of those with different political views - of different world-views. This does not sound like my image of “liberals” - well known for their tolerance of their neighbors. Just re-read this conversation thread and you will see it.
2. Have you heard of the “electoral college”? Do you know what it means? I am curious. And please be honest. What would be your reaction if - after the *next* election - we all discover that Bush won the popular vote but Kerry (or Nadar, for that matter) won the electoral college vote and - backed up by the supreme Court - is thus elected the next President. Would you consider him (Kerry or Nadar) the true President? It would be ironic, true. But, honestly, what would be your reaction? And what would you want of the Republicans as they address and work with the newly elected President?
I send this as a former Democrat. I voted for Gore and every Democratic presidental candidate before him - beginning with McGovern. I am not stupid. I suspect my educational level is “higher” than most engaging in this covnersation. I am not greedy and I am not hateful. In fact, I love my family, my neighbors, and my counry. For 22 years, I have worked for non-profit organizations serving vulnerable populations and I have sacrificed higher salaries to do so. These are my credentials I provide so that you will be more open to consider what I am sayng in this comment.
I say this because I want to challenge you to do what you seem to want “the others” to do - i.e. to take a look at the beam in your own eye before trying to pick out the sliver in the other’s eye.
I am challenging you all to look beyond stereotypes. Just review this covnersation thread. What do you see? Can you see the stereotyping?
As a former liberal, as a former Democrat, I see it clearly and I am challenging you to be a more introspective about all of this. I am challenging you to dare to think that we all have much to learn from each other. None of us - on the right, left or center - holds a corner on the truth.
It is a mistake to underestimate the other and to overestimate ourselves. Can you accept this challenge?
Remember, we are all Americans. Those of us some of you call “Bible-thumpers” or “right-wingers” love justice and peace every bit as much as you do.
Please check your language with love. And if “Republican” Americans are your “enemy”, love your enemy. And reflect on the fact that you are talking about your fellow Americans as if they (we) are your enemy.
Sincerely sent.
Posted by G. van den Bosch on Aug 29, 2004 at 9:53 AM
Dear Garrison,
Thanks for your excellent lament re the lamentable Republicans. I counter with my lament, which is also a call to action, and which I imagine myself orating (don’t laugh) from the podium at the DNC:
Doug Lane
Los Angeles
HOW CAN THEY BE SO STRONG?
How can the likes of Cheney and Perle be so strong? They look very weak to me: liars, swindlers, operators in the shadows…... How does Cheney’s 4-alarm heart go on beating? And Bush? This is a strong man? He’s barely there. But he’s propped up pretty firmly. These guys are only as strong as the American peoples’ capacity for self-deception & delusion, which is very very strong. They’re strong the way the NRA hysterics who fight for the right to party with assault weapons are strong, they’re strong the way election saboteurs like Katherine Harris are strong, they’re strong the way Halliburton war profiteers are strong, they’re strong the way pro-life terrorists and assassins are strong, they’re strong the way TV talking-head thugs are strong, they’re strong the way lumbermen colluding with Ann Venneman and Gayle Norton to pillage the national forests are strong, they’re strong the way cynical Tom Delay-led Congressmen who pass taxcut after trillion dollar taxcut for the upper 1% are strong, they’re strong the way Tom Ridge strongly warns us of another terror threat every time Bush’s polls need goosing, they’re strong the way Rumsfeld strongly flung the Geneva Convention into the trash can while he gave the go ahead to torturers in Gitmo and Abu Ghraib, they’re strong the way the Big Brass is strong when they decide to let wretched lowlife reservist PFC’s like Lynndie England take the heat for the Abu Ghraib scandal, they’re strong with the strength that comes from pulling America out of nuqular disarmament agreements, international law treaties, Kyoto environmental treaties, they’re strong with the strength that comes from devastating our ties to former friends & Nato allies like the French and Germans, they’re strong with the strength that comes from never using diplomacy but always relying on violence, they’re strong with the strength that comes from penning dissenters in barbed wire “free speech zones,” they’re strong with strength that comes from asking others to sacrifice while they and their cronies cash in with no-bid contracts, corporate welfare, golden parachutes, and deficit raids on Social Security and Medicare, they’re strong with the strength that comes from fixing the rules of the economic game Enron-style and calling it a free market, they’re strong with the strength of always seeking to divide, not unify, they’re strong with the strength of voters whom they induce to vote against themselves, they’re strong with the strength that comes with fanning the flames of fear, they’re strong with the strength born of narrow self-interest, they’re strong with appeals to family values even as they shred families by destroying the working and middle classes, they’re strong with the strength of outsourcing, they’re strong with the almost overwhelming strength of hypocrisy, they’re strong with the strength of lobbyists, of special interests, of backrooms, of government for sale, they’re strong with the strength of men who tell the American people what to think instead of encouraging them to think for themselves, they’re strong with the strength of loathing for learning even as they promise to leave no child behind, they’re strong with the strength of men who never admit their own mistakes, no matter how devastating and bloody those errors of judgment have proven to be, they’re strong with the strength of lies asserted with perfect conviction, they’re strong with the strength of fraud, they’re strong the way those who never dialogue, who are incapable of dialogue, are strong, they’re strong the way rulers who have perfect contempt for the people are strong, they’re strong the way a people who have perfect contempt for themselves, and who therefore surrender ultimate responsibility for themselves, are strong, they’re strong the way a stubbornly blind faithbased contituency is strong, they’re strong the way a nation which has lost its way is strong, they’re strong the way a nation of gluttons in a starving world is strong, they’re strong the way Chickenhawks who let others bleed for their mistakes are strong, they’re strong the way spinmeisters who base policies on polls are strong, they’re strong the way media monopolists are strong, they’re strong the way Uncle Toms are strong, they’re strong with the strength of homophobia, they’re strong the way men who see the flag as a brand to be exploited are strong, they’re strong because they see patriotism as the last refuge of scoundrels such as themselves, they’re strong because they’re stamping out Liberty’s light, they’re strong because they preach Freedom Freedom Freedom and they practice repression repression repression, they’re strong because they gut the Bill of Rights, they’re strong because they use the Constitution as asswipe, they’re strong because they pray the Old South will rise again, this time with wage slaves of all colors, they’re strong because they encourage Christian and Jewish fundamentalists to hate Moslem fundamentalists, they’re strong because they ride the back of the tiger and spur the tiger on, they’re strong because they’re oilocrats, they’re strong because they destroy wildlife refuges on principle, not simply out of greed, they’re strong because they love hate and embody hate while purporting to love, they’re strong because they deify greed, they’re strong because they institutionalize injustice, they’re strong because they foster lies and live by them, they’re strong because they operate in shadows & secrecy and hate the light, they’re strong because they bully and intimidate and deceive, they’re strong because they admit nothing, they’re strong because their words & images mean whatever they pay them to mean, they’re strong because they’re Humpty Dumpties and they’re sitting on a wall, they’re strong because they subvert the vote, they’re strong because they don’t do what Jesus would have done, they’re strong because they would rather build more nukes than get rid of them, they’re strong because they attack the wrong enemies and offend former friends, they’re strong because they play into the hands of our enemies, they’re strong because they believe power is the highest good and they will hold it by any means necessary.
They’re strong because 9/11 is the best thing that ever happened to them, they’re strong because they did not hesitate to exploit the fear and goodwill and unity of the nation and the world. They’re strong because they’re going it alone and letting others do their fighting for them. They’re strong because they see respect for the truth as weakness. They’re strong because they say one thing and do another and they rarely mean what they say or say what they mean. They’re strong because their highest allegiance is to narrow self-interest, not to the nation or the world. They strong because they cannot imagine the future or remember the past and are blind to the present. They’re strong because they shamelessly and cynically invoke the name of God and claim God is on their side instead of praying that they are on God’s side. They’re strong because they shoot first and ask questions later. Actually, they never ask questions unless they are forced to because they believe they already have the answers. They’re strong because they believe that power comes out of the barrel of a gun and they cannot imagine power that is not violent. They’re strong because they believe they are the chosen ones, the frozen ones. They’re strong because their front man never does his homework, but gladly allows them to do his homework for him. They’re strong because they have a crushing contempt for the facts. They’re strong because they silence whisteblowers and exile dissenters and slander those who would tell truth to power. They’re strong because they love bad science. They’re strong because they’re denying we’re warming the globe. They’re strong because they somehow imagine they can engineer an apocalypse without going down themselves, or else they’ve so lost sight of joy or are so eaten up with hate & fear that they’re turning the whole world into a carbomb with themselves at the wheel. They’re strong because they lead the fight against terrorism yet they are themselves terrifying. They’re strong because they promise to save the nation they are destroying. They’re strong because they’ve alienated America from the rest of the world and they’ve alienated Americans from ourselves. They’re strong because they find a government of the people, for the people, by the people to be a laughable, exploitable, slogan. They’re strong because they exploit our weakness and indifference and ignorance at every turn. They’re strong because they think they are the ultimate players and they’re playing us and they’re playing the world and they think governing is great game, not a sacred responsibility. They’re strong because they think they will go on forever.
Let’s prove them wrong. Before they take us down with them.
Posted by Doug Lane on Aug 29, 2004 at 10:07 AM
Great comments Garrison.
What I have come to determine about people who support the President is that they can only see the world from the standpoint of “what’s in it for me?”. This doesn’t mean they’re bad people but that they just can’t stand back and think about things clearly because they are overcome by some kind of patriotic religion and belief in self-interest.
Fact is that if one of these people has something happen in their life that forces them to confront the realities of their positions (read Dick Cheney and his Gay daughter, Nancy Reagan and stem-cell research, etc.) then they tend to see that things are more gray than they think and the idea of “the greater good” slips into their mind. Governments, and participation in a society (or even an economy) cannot be based strictly on “what’s in it for me?” approach.
Unless America wakes up (and soon) I fear for the entire stability of the world. If Bush gets in this fall he knows they will not likely win in ‘08. So he will have a “scorched earth” policy over the next four years to set things up so they simply cannot be turned back. This is VERY dangerous and we have to stop it.
It’s time for Kerry to wake up and stop being so polite or I am afraid I will blame him for what results.
Posted by Dick on Aug 29, 2004 at 10:32 AM
I would sincerely like to reply to Mr. Van der Bosch,
How can you speak of us being “not educated” as much as you are? I am sorry that you feel like you are such an elitist and we are uneducated retards. We are voicing our opinions and we have the freedom to do so. You likewise have that freedom, but you could be a little nicer about it. Are you German? I notice that your name is of a foreign origin. How well read are you on the regime of the Third Reich when they blinded the german people to the truth and led them to utter destruction? We are all aware that the people can be swayed in their beliefs as well as you. What we are voicing is that this is what is happening in America now.
I’ve got the coffee on come on over and have a cup when you wake up and smell it. And that is the Rest of the Story. Good Day.
Posted by Dee Lochala on Aug 29, 2004 at 10:36 AM
Can eloquence and articulate elucidation put the kybosh on plain speak jibber-jabber politicking? Can a lucid voice in turbulent times evoke change? Can virtue and reason serve as the metaphorical pooper-scooper needed to toss those gleaming cat turds into the compost heap?
I don’t know, but Garrison Keillor has soothed my nerves. It is refreshing to hear a calm and reasonable voice in the midst of our current political morass. There is far too much shouting going on, and too little communicating.
I’m too young to recall the halcyon days of republican benevolence that Mr. Keillor speaks about, but to some extent I doubt their ever having existed.
Being a regular listener to “A Prairie Home Companion” it has always seemed to me that Lake Wobegon is not Mayberry. Sure there’s that close-knit church community thing the two share, but Lake Wobegon has always seemed more real than that. The fictitious town’s foibles never being presented as either Utopian or innately correct. In the case of Griffith’s Mayberry it was exactly the opposite. There, even chronic alcoholism is presented as a quaint and harmless affectation.
Sure Mayberry is fiction, but it just may serve as a window into the collective psyche of early sixties conservativism. And the view is conveniently devoid of minorities, social strife or boys coming home in body bags. As best as I can recall at least. There may not have been racism, but there was also no one to direct that racism toward.
Bush and his cronies are clearly a breed apart for the passive conservatives of yesteryear. But he must be the evolutionary product of their philosophies. Though there is little that is “conservative” about Bush, it seems to me that he just may represent the long buried Id of the Republican Party.
Kudos to Garrison Keillor for giving our political selves a little fresh air to breath, absorb. He’s right about what he said about angry people. Unfortunately, when I look around, angry people are all I see.
Posted by Michael G. Sivak on Aug 29, 2004 at 10:44 AM
Not all republicans are racists and bigots.
However, proud racists and bigots are republicans.
Posted by grasso on Aug 29, 2004 at 10:47 AM
SAVE 53% OFFTHE NEWSSTAND PRICE!
Reader Comments
Mr. Keilor,
From the time I was first eligible to vote, to the ‘96 general election, I voted Republican. Didn’t like the liberal “tax and spend” Democrats. But in ‘96, Bob Dole lost my vote because I just didn’t see anything he could bring to the office that wasn’t being covered by Bubba. I was employed after a four year span from ‘90 to ‘94. I has to go into Chapter 13 to save my home, but at least I has a job that paid enough for me to get the bankruptcy discharged in ‘97. In 2000, I couldn’t handle the smart aleck, “shoot from the hip” George W. Bush. Al Gore was the type “B” personality I felt we needed to “stay the course” of a budget surplus, world respect, and hope for health care reform while leaving Social Security intact. Well, the election was stolen, the will of the people was not done, and many who voted for Bush now must feel, I hope, that they’ve been duped. After 9/11 I felt we did right by invading Afghanistan. But then we screwed up. Instead of going into Pakistan the same way, we let them lead us by the nose with alleged Bin Laden sightings, ignoring their sharing of nuclear information with other countries. We went into Iraq under the lies that Saddam Hussein had “weapons of mass destruction”. Then Bush jokes about it later by looking for said weapons in the Oval Office. Remember that?
Comedian Bill Ingvold does a routine where those who ask stupid questions should be made to wear an ” I’m Stupid” sign. This way, you know not to ask them anything. The same should be required of those who, after all that has happened since Bush took office, still insist he is the right man for the job. This way, the rest of us could have meaningful discussions about the candidates without wasting our time.
If Bush is re elected, by 2008 we will no longer be The United States Of America. Rather, we will be the “Haliburton Territory, United Colonies Of Saudi Arabia”. Bush will remain “President” because we will no longer have free elections. Perhaps the Saudi Royal Family will appoint their wayward son, Osama, our Secretary Of State. Far fetched you say? Not if this great nation sits on it’s hands and does not vote on election day. We sent our sons and daughters to die in Iraq, the sacrifice to give up a little time to vote pales in comparison.
(GOD, ALLAH, CONFUCIUS, BUDDAH, THE GREAT PUMPKIN) BLESS AMERICA, WHILE SHE IS STILL THE LAND OF THE FREE.
Mike Dimenn, Proud American, True Believer In Democracy.
Well written!
Don’t we all wish we could write like that?
Oh yes, Bush is the best person to have in power for the zealots and greed soaked Republicans! Please everyone, read “Bush on the Couch: Inside the Mind of the President,” by Justin Franks. What an eye opener that book is—it explains everything about this incompetent that is the most powerful man in the world. Too scary for words. He has to go, or I move to Canada!
No, Joe Keene you will not have to live in hell; it is the less fortunate among us that are living in the hell that this administration has created.
I acknowledge that Bush may win the upcoming election, but it will not be fair and square or, in your words, legitimate. He has proven that already.
God bless Garrison! The text belongs in a history book free of censorship by the current administration.
Greed and power hungriness have led the Bush cult to begin a systematic dismantling of democracy, selling the pieces to the highest private bidder.
There is a sinister, oddly transparent, process underway to squander the American idea, covered by a smokescreen of Orwellian propaganda.
It is no less dangerous than the origins of an authoritarian Germany during the 30’s.
Keiller is right - this is NO time to be neutral.
Nice article !
Im sure ill be corrected if im wrong, but didnt our founding fathers say ” our government is here to protect the powerless from the powerful “.
My how far we have gotten of the beaten path.
G. posted on August 27, 2004 at 2:42pm. It is noted how often you had to refer to the fact that you USED to be a Democrat. Perhaps it does give you some legitimacy. No Democrat I have ever known could do such an extreme make-over. Do you think it may just be your bad side coming to the fore?
thank you, garrison, for your usual candour and wit. we north of the border are watching anxiously this fight of your lifetime to preserve democracy, which will have profound influence on our future, too.
we are watching 1984 being updated - scary indeed!
Let us hear Garrison comment on the party of Bill Clinton with the same “unbiased”, objectivity. Let us hear his comments on the party that rented out the White House, and then vandalized it when they moved out. Let us hear about a party that defended a President who committed adultery while on the job in the Oval Office, and then directly lied to Congress and the American people about it. Let us hear about the party that panders to the worst, and most useless people in the nation which drags us all further down to the lowest common denominator.
BRILLANT!!!! ARE YOU MARRIED? IF SO, damn…
This is the second piece by Garrison I’ve read in a week. Keep the fire going, Garrison, and the rest of us—all the way to (and through) election day. And for those few dissenters on this discussion thread: The current Repub-liban Party (Republican crossed with Taliban) does not resemble the party I joined while living in Wyoming. These Repub-libans are well represented by President Duh-bya who was proud of being a C- college student—because the GOP has been highjacked by the cynical, the callous and the clueless.
I sent the following letter to the Nashville paper today, and don’t expect it will be published. But it expresses the sentiments of one former Republican who has no desire to surrender to the shallow meanness that pervades the GOP now. Read it and weep, you Duh-bya apologists:
Letter to the Editor: A Republican (Not) for Bush
As a registered Republican in Wyoming before returning to Tennessee, I have felt that the Republican Party’s history has sometimes given moderate voters a choice in elections. Over the years, some proud Republicans have supported protecting the environment and conserving our natural heritage. Others have helped pass the Americans with Disabilities Act to give the less fortunate greater access to jobs and public services. Many (if not most) Republicans have supported fiscal restraint and a balanced budget at all levels of government. The GOP has been a strong states’ rights supporter and has often fought against federal intrusion into our personal and family lives. Until recently, Republicans have also honored our veterans without fail, and have sometimes even practiced a foreign policy that walked softly, even as we carried a big stick.
My question today: where did that Republican Party go? For the past four years, George W. Bush has muddied everything that was worthy of support in the Republican Party’s history. Instead of standing on, and governing from, sensible and long-held principles; he has used personal attacks against his opponents to deflect attention from his “what, me worry?” incompetence, the radical agenda of his handlers and the selfishness and self-centeredness that is the foundation of his appeal within the “I’ve got mine, so screw you!!” suburban set.
So, in this election, I am voting against Bush. In so doing, I hope that the Republican Party can reawaken some of its honorable and deeply-held values and quiet the shrill extremists who now control its voice. I am joined by other Republican friends and family members in this decision, and I hope that many Americans who value principled (and competent) leadership over personal attacks and political sleight-of-hand will join us by defeating Bush, for the sake of our conservative values and the nation we all love.
Bernie Ellis
Old Natchez Trace Road
Fly, TN
PS: These days, I would much rather be labelled a “tax and spend” Democrat than a “borrow and steal” Repub-liban.
Garrison, almost thou persuadest me to become a Democrat. As a 70 year old lifetime Republican who voted for Dubya last time and is now ABB, I have watched the transition from the proud and reasonable Ike to the collection of religious nuts and geeks but I still believe we must have two parties - and I am going to do what I can to return the Republican Party to the party of Lincoln, Ike, Charlie and Ev. The best indication Dubya is worried - look at the “librals” he is now showcasing in prime time during the convention. Ain’t it great to see the conservatives and religious nuts shunted behind the curtains until after the election?
The time for talking is over. Now it is time to work. Answer phones at your local Kerry headquarters, hold a Kerry house meeting, make calls at a phone bank, volunteer at Kerry events, help register voters, become a precinct Kerry captain, hand out information on absentee and early voting, help get voters to the polls. Enough talk… lets get this thing done!
Thank you for expressing my thoughts as I never could. Recently, I saw these two items that made
me feel eviscerated again—“Scopes Trial: Fundamentalism confronts modern science” and “Hitler makes use of the new media to mold people to his will”. We will wake-up to a revolution.
Is it possible to send your article to the local newspaper?
What wonderful lines (” Hypocrisies shine like cat turds in the moonlight!” and such). Angry much, mr Garrison? It sounds as though a few people here are in dire need of a blow job.
Being a centrist, I was thinking of voting for Kerry, but all this anti-Bush hysteria (and that’s just what it is — pure, unadulterated, unbridled, hate-filled hysteria) has me changing my mind. I’m not going to vote for a guy whose supporters — convention kooks, Hollywood, Moore, Franken and THIS guy — act like the frickin’ world is going to come to an end if they don’t get Bush out of office (someone here recently mentioned that the Republic will end if Bush is reelected). I interpret this as meaning that they’re not that really enthused about Kerry… Just getting a certain republican out of office.
Obviously, the people commenting here were Liberal Democrats before they read your article. So congratulations, Mr. Garrison. Your article HAS made a difference. You just made your enemy one man stronger.
PS — even if your boy does get elected, he will be as useless as tits on a bull. You guys need to get both houses of congress back in order to make this country a nice socialist utopia, and that will be no easy task. I guess you better keep ranting and screaming, but don’t let it kill you.
Was Opias’ name misspelt?
Is Opias’ name misspelt?
To John sKerry:
You were as likely to vote for Kerry before reading Garrison’s piece as you are to stop polishing your own knob someday. These aren’t fellow frat boys you’re communicating with now, so try harder next time. You Bush apologists are literal and figurative W-ankers.
I absolutely agree with what Mr. Keillor stated, and I’m very thankful that he had the courage to speak out.
However, I am quite pessimistic about the state of current affairs, and to echo what John McNamara wrote on this blog, I also believe that Kerry can’t undo the damage of our neo-con administration. I would go a step further, and say that Kerry is only the lesser of two evils.
As a democrat, I want to support Kerry full heartedly, but I’ve been unable to do so. He just doesn’t have enough clear answers to the tough questions, and more importantly, I believe that his corporate affiliations and interests aren’t far removed from those of the Bush/Chaney administration.
In some ways, as dismal as the prospect sounds, it may indeed be best if Kerry lost this election.
First, because it would let Bush & Co. show all of their true colors without having to worry about winning votes. Their recklessness is bound to create such turmoil, that even the staunch supporters will be appalled.
Second, the damage done is so vast, that if Kerry wins, the likelihood is that he won’t be able to repair much if any of what Bush has created. Further more, Kerry’s inability to change the situation substantially will only serve as a comparison note to republicans. They’ll say that the situation got out of control under Kerry, not under Bush. And given the scope of the mess left in Bush’s wake, it probably would take several administrations to undo the damage.
Third, Kerry may indeed be a war hero, and to many around the world a much needed change in American politics. But what happens to the morale of our country and that of our allies when Kerry fails to deliver? What if the situation in Iraq worsens after Kerry is elected? What are the consequences of a declining economy under a democratic administration?
In my opinion, it’s better to let things run their course. Let the neo-cons do themselves in.
After two consecutive terms, it is my belief that our country will not be divided as it is now, and that it will be clear to all that the neo-cons are weakening America in every way. Four years from now perhaps a more liberal, more revolutionary, less corporate democratic candidate may surface to rally our nation.
Let’s keep the dialog moving, and let’s tell it like it is.
Thank you for speaking the truth Mr. Keillor.
Hey Bernie Ellis. Go fuck yourself. You don’t know jack shit about me, and you’ve just shown your ignorance. Are you even an American, btw? The reason I ask is because of your use of British slang. Just curious.
We have 45 million people with no health insurance. We have 39.5 million more people living in poverty than was the case in 2000. We have almost 1,000 dead Americans in Iraq.
What do we have to do to relieve us of this individual ocupying the White White Oval Office?
We have to get him out in order to get Mr. Kerry in to create some semblance of civil behaviour in our country.
Thanx for your piece.
Evelyn
Pass this around. Everyone needs to read it! Man, it’s a sad day when a Democrat (and democrat) says he missed Nixon….
Gerald,
Your comments, though well-written and intended, remind me of the Vietnam era refrain that “... we had to destroy the village to save it.” I understand your concerns, but our goal should not be to hope for a political revolution by allowing Duh-bya another four years. And that’s the only reason not to vote for John Kerry—because you want George Bush to remain at the helm. We need to defend America and the world NOW—and defeat Bush.
I also want to apologize to the blog for getting John sKerry to rise to the bait so quickly with the usual Cheney-like charm that Bushies are known for. As an eighth generation Mississippean, that was the first time I’ve ever been called un-American (such an original insult, too, from a political substrate that thinks that Kerry’s ability to speak French is somehow comical or “un-‘merikan”). But then again, I’m not surprised that Bushies would relate to erudite references as something foreign—because for them, they are. Now, as my momma would counsel, it’s time to leave Mr. sKerry alone before he strokes out—to kill him with silence. Here’s hoping he goes to Repub-liban heaven—soon.
Garrison Keiller’s remarks are scary and right on the money. I’m ashamed to admit that I’m one of the people who have been standing ideally by while the radical right wingers were gradually taking America back to the dark ages. George W. Bush was my wake-up call. The lies and arrogance of this man along with his unwillingness to consider any opinion other than his own has done more to ruin the American way of life than any other president I can remember. I read a perfect description of him. “George W. Bush—a totally worthless, morally impaired warmonger”.
I grew up on the American border (north of Detroit)in the late 1950’s, 1960’s and into the early 1970’s. America for me was the ideal. Over the past 20 years I feel that it is not the same place I knew and unfortunately your current Republicanism is infecting my country. I believe that the principles of American are being re-awakened. After reading Mr. Keillor’s article and the majority of the responses maybe it is getting safe to be a liberal in America again. We will all be better for it.
Margaret Atwood has expressed this much more eloquently in a letter to America. If you get the chance read the article and trust that there are a lot of us rooting for you.
http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=31514
“There are those who believe that, if you will only legislate to make the well-to-do prosperous, their prosperity will leak through on those below.”
William Jennings Bryan, 1896!! From his “Cross of Gold” speech:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/1900/filmmore/reference/primary/crossofgold.html
Republicans, time to wake up. “Trickle Down” is flawed for the same reason as Socialism: people’s intrisic greed.
Simple, clear, astonsihing brilliance.
forces are at play:
1) corporations have the status of personhood, as people. Corporations have, for instance, protected speech (it’s not false advertising). The underlying criminal acts of a corporation in misrepresenting income tax cannot, by law, be revealed (they are treated like people, like citizens, like singular personages). See supreme court ruling, 1896, on the southern pacific rail road. The modern corporation is a golem.
2)From “Look Away, a history of the confederate states during the civil war” one will see precisely the current GOP, but it was then the democrats in the south. Fast forward to the dixiecrats, civil rights, and vampire like, the tyranical hatred of the southern aristocracy leaves the democratic party and infects the Republican party.
Mr. Keillor speaks truth to power. I can only hope that people are listening, as polls in the last few days show that—amazingly—Shrub’s poll numbers appear to be improving following the “Swift Boat” garbage.
I wrote this poem back during the Reagan years and thought everyone would enjoy it.
Oh beautiful for spacious skies,
Look into your childrens’ eyes,
Why spread the hate, why spread the lies,
Under beautiful and spacious skies.
Home of the Brave, land of the Free,
Not as free as it used to be,
Wave the Flag, the people can’t see,
In the home of the brave, land of the Free.
I have linked this article elsewhere because this is a rant the likes of which I would be proud and pleased to see in the editorial pages of any press anywhere.
And I’m not.
I should be seeing it all over the papers and networks, but no.
All I get is the clones of Rush.
Why?
I’m also quite concerned about touch-screen voting machine fraud and all those Florida troopers trying to intimidate little old southern black ladies who were getting beat up long ago, back in the Jim Crow days, by the same sort of troopers.
Then there’s the fake felon rolls, of course.
It won’t matter what anybody wants to vote if the margin is tiny and hundreds of thousands of votes
are cheated away.
But the latest twist is that Anonymous has been sending in huge numbers of change of address forms to the Registrar of Voters—and doing it completely **without your knowledge**—to remove all kinds of voters in heavily Democratic districts.
If they do it to you, then when you show up to vote at the polls, the pollworkers don’t show you in the district where you actually live. They don’t recognize you, they won’t let you vote, and by then you have no recourse.
You have to check if you’re properly registered, where you actually live, in time to get it fixed.
This happened to various people I know in Missouri’s last election, so it’s no joke. It coul be happening on a vast scale, too.
This could be prevented by not allowing state Registrar of Voters to do so many suspicious change of address forms at once, but that isn’t going to be fixed in the law in time for this vital election, is it?
The answer? Vote absentee. Check to make sure you’re properly registered in time to fix it.
‘Good hearted people’?????
I loathe this sort of commentary. It involves the assumption that once upon a time the Republicans were decent people with quite reasonable ideas and a genuine devotion to the public interest, but that at some stage (apparently only after Nixon for this writer but more recently for many others), they degenerated into nuts.
In fact, this is a form of nostalgia. If you study the history of American conservatism, you will find that the Republican party has always been the party of reaction and obscurantism, and has been tied to nutty ‘free market’ economics since the 1920s.
The only basis for the more positive estimate of the Republicans is that, in the 1950s, they were led by Eisenhower, who was a ‘moderate’ Republican, in other words, a paradoxical creature. Since the personal preferences of a president tend to set the tone of the administration as a whole, the tone of the 1950s Republican administration was in some respects mildly progressive. By present standards, Eisenhower was not too bad.
But after Eisenhower left office, the party rediscovered its true colours, and the nomination of Barry Goldwater in 1964 was part of the process by which the party went back to its roots. Bush II represents nothing more than the natural culmination of Republican party politics.
Why do people feel the need, when attacking Bush and the current gang, to invoke a past era when Republicans were somehow much better people? Unfortunately, I remember the 1960s very, very well - and I can assure you that very little has changed.
As far as I can see, the only real change is that over time Republicans have become angrier and more aggressive.
Sally McCoy, talk about a call to arms! “War on Error” is the perfect counter-mantra for this election.
“Hypocrisies shine like cat turds in the moonlight!” Oh, that so really lit up my day!
Was sent your article by a friend and very happy to get it. Now I know there are at least a few people or journalist that will “Tell It Like It Is”. Just got through watching “Bill Moyers” on PBS and all the extravagant parties sponsored none the less by big business in search of favors. It happens on both sides be it Republican or Democrat it seems and we the people are the ones that are being “SHUT OUT”.
They take our money sponsored by big business say it is for Aids or health care, therefore it is deductable on income tax. Of course this is by invitation only….And do the Delegates get to go in???No they are turned away at the door. What a gosh awful mess this is. No one is standing up for us the little guy except a very very few. It is time for our press which is supposed to keep this from happening by revealing all this to the public to get off their butts and start reporting something worthy of being called news and not some more smut or smear that is going on. They (the press) could stop all of this by not giving air time to smears or state it for what it is. We better wise up and wake up or we will wake up in
a condition that our forefathers would be sick of.
Where are the good people???Where are the patriots???Where are the Brave????Who will stand up????Don’t look at the other guy next to you and ask this question. Look in the mirror and ask this question? Where are you America?????Close to the end if you don’t wake up and speak up.
I enjoyed the article. I found it halarious, especially the paragraph that listed all the shady characters that make up the bulk of the Republican party. One category, however, left me a little confused. Why did he include Fakirs? Perhaps this bit was meant to be ironic. I don’t think that a Hindu/Muslim mendicant holy man from India would likely be included under that tent. If a Fakir were involved in American politics, or any politics for that matter, I would imagine he would probably be an independent. I happen to respect these figures, and would hope that they would have more cosmic wisdom than to align themselves with the gods of war (though, as often the case with the truly wise, there might be some deeper rationale that is not apparent to mundane minds like mine).
“Angry much, mr Garrison? It sounds as though a few people here are in dire need of a blow job.”
“(and that’s just what it is — pure, unadulterated, unbridled, hate-filled hysteria)”
“Hey Bernie Ellis. Go fuck yourself. You don’t know jack shit about me”
john sKerry, your comments are well-reasoned, objective, and certainly not tainted by strong emotions. You’ve certainly earned the mantle of “centrist,” being a Greek ideal of moderation and ratiocination. Though, to be fair to Garrison Keillor, as shrill and paranoid as he obviously is, I think he was making a larger point about the GOP as a whole, not just a screed against just George W. Bush. I believe the point is that the GOP has slowly and tragically declined since its founding in the mid 19th century (when it started as a party of Lincoln and abolition).
Dear Mr.Keillor,
THANK YOU for you report What is so confusing about the trail of lies, the secrets, the betrayal of the USA and it’s citizens, stil 50% of the public think this Judas is who they will vote for in November. (That is if we can believe the news) Perhaps the Democrats should start taking a look at their past failures. No one holds these FAILURES ACCOUNTABLE. We the public need the simple tools our employers use to get rid of the prostitues, those who write legislation for Corporations, legislation that is not good for the citizens. WE NEED THE ABILITY TO STEP IN AND FIRE THESE ELECTED BEFORE THEY CAN COMPLETE THEIR DAMAGING LEGISLATION.
We can look at Tom Scully or Scally Wag as I called him in my e-mails to him, while he was writing the Medicare Drug Bill, he was in negotiations for employment with a law firm that lobbied for the drug industry. This Drug bill is very detramental to the seniors but so lucrative for the Drug Industry. Then we can look at 26 years of Congressional Hearings telling us how bad nursing home care is in the USA and we find some PAID OFF POLITICIAN who wrote laws where negligent Homicide or manslaughter in a nursing home is NOT a capitol crime but merely a regulatory issue. Then lets look at Enron, Harken Energy Corp (Bush former CEO) or Halliburton (Chenny former CEO) who was, has and is screwing us taxpayers every day and we do not have the means to get these CRIMINALS OFF THE PAYROLL AND OUT OF WASHINGTON DC and into prison. It is apparent BUSH encourages fraud and as long as he proceeds his lies with how religious he is, it’s OK. We accept all this lying, cheating, fraud, grand theft as ‘DIRTY POLITICS’. Wouldn’t it be a wonderful change to have the way to imprison these crooks and replace them with men and women with morals and codes of ethics and be able to do it at the time of their crime or their puposed dirty regulations?
We have had filthy Politicians and Dirty Politics on both sides, with no way to hold them criminally accountable. We need a change, a total change of OUR attitudes. This dirty politics has got to stop.
Thank you again for your WONDERFUL REPORTING
The “Correspondent Breeze” created by Mark Twain’s writing just blew into Lake Woebegon and unleashed the message this nation needs right now. Thanks Mr. Keillor… Let us have more.
Several people have spoken about the need for action, and what all of us can do to play our part. This prayer and prophesy from the Hopi elders should give us the pleasure of knowing that our purpose here—now—is to do what is necessary to get this country (and the ideals on which it was founded) back on track. Thanks, Garrison, and now to sleep.
From the Hopi Elders
You have been telling the people that this is the Eleventh Hour.
Now you must go back and tell the people that this is The Hour.
Here are the things that must be considered:
Where are you living?
What are you doing?
What are your relationships?
Are you in right relation?
Where is your water?
Know our garden.
It is time to speak your Truth.
Create your community.
Be good to each other.
And do not look outside yourself for the leader.
This could be a good time!
There is a river flowing now very fast.
It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid.
They will try to hold on to the shore.
They will feel like they are being torn apart, and they will suffer greatly.
Know the river has its destination.
The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off toward the middle of the river,
keep our eyes open, and our heads above the water.
See who is there with you and celebrate.
At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally, least of all ourselves!
For the moment we do, our spiritual growth and journey comes to a halt.
The time of the lonely wolf is over. Gather yourselves!
Banish the word struggle from your attitude and vocabulary.
All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.
We are the ones we have been waiting for.
The Elders, Oraibi, Arizona, Hopi Nation
Dear Garrison,
I had heard a horrible rumor that YOU had become a Republican. What a relief to know that you are still on our side.
I must, however, remind you that while Eisenhower was perhaps not as brazen as our current Commander and Thief, he was no saint. Just ask the Guatemalans. And, I would not necessarily say that the flourishing of arts and culture during the 1950s was a credit to his administration.
That said, your point is well taken—-this brazenness that is the Republican mode of operation is deeply distressing, and I, too, hope that this country is not so paralyzed by misinformation as to give this CREEP a second term.
Thanks for your humor. I’m glad you are still a Democrat.
Sincerely,
Sara
Please allow this to sink in before rushing to judgment. It took me some time to come to this conclusion. Especially after being exposed to much more information on a President than ever before. From sources like NPR, AirAmericaRadio.com, Jim Hightower, and books recently published on Bush ie. “The New Pearl Harbour”, “How Much Are You Making on the War Daddy?”, Ron Suskins book on Paul O’Neil, and others. This is the conclusion I’ve come too: We need to pray for the man who represents our country.
No, not pray for his early demise! lol We need to dig deep into ourselves and pray for his wisdom to grow. For his honesty to shine. For his love to grow. For his desire to do the right thing to galvanise. Not to intend his reelection, but to lead this country in a better way during the time he has left. I don’t think these prayers will help him with his mudslinging campain.;) If, God forbid he gets reelected, i hope my despair does not overwhelm my desire to have him be the best leader he can be!
Mr. Keillor,
I love you every week on Prairy Home Companion and I love this essay! As a fellow citizen and a fellow writer I must confess your way with words brings tears to my eyes and leaves me speachless with admiration!
Our Nation, however, is truly caught between a rock and a hard place. John Kerry is in favor of the war in Iraq and could find no more harsh critisism than to say that we should have seduced more of the nations of Europe into this quick sand with us instead of going in alone. He supports the Isreali apartheid of the Palestinians- the most egregeous and long running miscarriage of justice and, violation of human rights in the world today, not to mention the primary source of international insecurity and conflict. He voted in favor of the Patriot Act and still fully supports it’s defacto nulification of the Bill of Rights. He voted for, and supports, the World Trade Organisation, NAFTA, the World Bank, and the ongoing economic policies that are decimating America’s middle class. His only offer of solution is yet more corporate wellfare in the form of government money given to those corporations that make a token effort to “keep jobs in the U.S.” As if using middle America’s money to bribe multi national corporations to keep middle America employed was a shell game we could ever win. While not quite so openly and deeply entwined, Kerry is taking money from and deeply indebted to the same special intrests as Bush. Sometimes I don’t know which scares me more, those who inexplicable swallow the lies and propaganda of the Republican fascists, or those who still think that the Democratic party still represents a viable and substantive difference. The state of our Nation can be summed up in the words of a fellow Skull and Bones member (the exclusive, elite secret Yale fraternity that both Bush and Kerry were members of). When a reporter asked this Alum, considering their famous loyalty to other members, how he could decide who to vote for, he smiled and said, “It doesn’t matter. We win either way.”
The people I worry about most are not those who will have read this article by the time it comes to vote, but those who haven’t, or those who dismiss it as blasphemy, or worse, treason in the name of patriotism. Somehow I get the feeling the hottest place in hell is going to be very very crowded in December.
GET THE WORD OUT, MORE DEPENDS ON IT THAN YOU REALIZE.
Mr. Keillor if you read this, I’m deeply grateful for the opportunity to voice (?) my thanks for your eloquence and wit, and now courage in these times, with this powerful message.
Dredging up Vietnam, questioning John Kerrys war record, due to the lack of ANY, throughout this administration, is upsetting, disgusting sleaze politics. But I shouldn’t be so naive and surprised at those tactics by this administration.
You are a national treasure, I love you! Your brother Mark T. is cheering you on! These words (of yours) seem appropriate to quote:
Dogs don’t lie, and why should I?
Strangers come, they growl and bark.
They know their loved ones in the dark.
Now let me, by night or day,
Be just as full of truth as they.
—Lake Wobegon Days
Daggar-in-the-heart logic from Garrison. Let’s not waste our own intelligence and clear opinions on each other. We must spar with folks at places such as the Weekly Standard so that they feel the dissent and breath on the back of their necks. It seems the right is quite comfortable throwing stones from it’s glass bubble. Let’s crack that bitch and fire back.
Garrison Keillor tells it as I see it and feel it. How can I help spread his pronouncements where they will do the most good?
Mr. Keillor,
Thank you so much for your message. It is sorely needed in these times. As I’ve read every post to this point, has anyone else noticed that the Bushies always resort to denigration of individuals, while never giving a single reason to support this president? While on the other side, the Bush opponents gives facts and figures, and heartfelt witness to the hardships imposed by the current administration? Why is that? Will they be backing Bush even after the investigations, the criminal trials, the tell-all books 5,10,15 years from now, or will they hold their hate as long as the Swift Boaters? Only to have it appear at a later date that serves to satisfy their sick revenge at the most self-serving time? I want us to be better than that, but my friends tell me that’s the Utopian in me. You’re darn right!
garrison:
i read somewhere that dubya is the most dangerous man in the world.
i agree, and fervently hope you guys in america will rise up and throw him out of office.
Garrison, you are wonderful! I am very concerned about the environment under this regime. It seems to me that no one is mentioning the horrible, backward steps that have been taken by our country in the last three years. It’s change or die for America! Mr Smirky Jerky, Bush Boy must believe the world is going to end so why bother yourself about the pollution. I do believe SJ,BB is operating with this sort of idea.
Come now, cowpox, the war beween the states is long over and the union still stands. Further, I cannot for the life of me understand why you folks continue to support the Republicans when the Southern states have the lowest per capita incomes in the country and send the most troops to be slaughtered so the boys in the back room can drive their gas guzzlers, pocket their golden parachutes, and hide their oil profits.
You can pray for the troops and hate the war and despise the president who sent them there.
Go Garrison!
nana
Everyone has said it already, so I’ll just add one more superlative: BRILLIANT!
Thank you, Mr Keillor….
Janice
You know how this election makes me feel? There should be an amendment to the Constitution that states that when one registers to vote at age 18 (for me it was age 21—how many of you remember those times?) you get ONE CHANCE to cast TWO votes when you feel, “This is the most important election of my life”.
The fly in that ointment is that we would have used it up when we were younger. I certainly would have (Nixon-McGovern?).
I have felt since the 1960s that if our Republic survived Richard Nixon, it can survive anything. Now I’m not so sure.
I think the scariest thing about what’s going on in America right now is that children are growing up thinking Fox News is a legitimate news organization. Actually they’re not so much thinking, as blindly accepting: “it’s on TV, it has news in its name, etc.”
Those on the left need to fight back against this and so many other things. For instance, why can’t filthy-rich Democrats fund a start-up that produce voting machines that DO provide a paper trail? I’m a computer programmer living in one of the 10 or 15 wealthiest counties in the country, and I would work for such an enterprise for HALF what I could make as a cog in the overarching corporate wheel America has become.
Think I’ll cross post this to the Williamson County Democrats Yahoo group. Now YOU go do something too ;)
A raindrop of logic and common sense in a roiling, broiling sea of inconsistancy, maliciousness, and bad intent.
There once was a president (Let’s call him LBJ), who decided to support equal rights for blacks. “How can this be?” said the southern Democrats. “He’s one of us! A southerner…. a Democrat… a Texan, for God’s sake.” Having none of this, these southern Democrats became southern Republicans… taking their bigotries with them.
So, in response to Mr. Keillor’s question… “How did the Party ... transmogrify…? This is meerly an example.
Dude…awesome! How do you know you’re not Mark Twain? Keep “telling the truth and shaming the devil.” Everyone. Thanks!
I too believe in my heart that this republic will be gone if Bush fanagles his way into office for four more years.Mr.Bush has put in place his own judges to control the direction that he wants the country to go.He has gutted and/hamstrung any protection of the environment,for the benefit of the richest industrialists and to the detrement of all the citizens of this country and the world.Freedom has become a dirty word to the world thanks to W..
Don’t be fooled.Mr. Kerry,if he is elected will not look good and probably will not be re-elected because it will take four years to clean up the mess that Mr.Bush has made of this country.Meanwhile the republicans will make hay of the fact that Mr.Kerry did nothing and will win re-election and continue on with the destruction of this country.One president can’t pull this country out of a deficit hole that we have been pushed into.
I see a very bleak future for this country with fewer freedoms for the people,less money,and a strangle hold on the windpipe of hope.So sad.
I am an independent and I will vote for Kerry just in the very faint hope that Bush will be expelled from our already clogged throats,but I see dire times ahead for this repulic.Ed P.
Kerry is NOT the answer! Sorry, he is one of the many who are part of the problem! He and GW are cousins and are both pledged to the same Club. They ultimately have the same aims. There is an alternative: Mr. John Joseph Kennedy of NC, who is dedicated to the Constitution (the Original!) and who needs to be our next President. Please check him out and lend your support NOW—the campaign is ON and growing. We need to remove the dross that is part of BOTH of the two main parties!
To john sKerry,
If you had any guts at all you’d use your real name. But like most of your ilk you hide behind false names, threats and foul language. What is it that makes you and your kind react like this? Honestly, what is your problem?
Sorry, Mr. Keillor, it is worse than that.
All you say is true, but why aren’t the Democrats calling liars liars? Kerry should call Bush a liar on a daily basis. He not only has lied from the beginning of his political career, he did it before the last election to decive the voters, and he has gotton more brazen as time goes on, and it will get worse. Democrats should call for impeachment even though the Republicans control Congress with malvolent intent.
It will be good for Kerrry to lose so that the modern version of Calligula and Nero can drive the population to revolution.
VOTE NADAR!
Ronald James
Oh, poor Woebegon Garrison!
A discussion on the Republican Party is certainly fair game (although this was NOT a discussion but a monologue - which is OK too), but Mr. Keillor rants fit nicely into the Michael Moore wing of the Democratic Party. Keillor as Mark Twain? Sure. And Twain, as great a writer as there was, proved woebegonfully wrong on the great issues of his day. Don’t let anyone of us forget 9/11. It changed forever the history of this country. Over 200 years to forge our greatness without serious threat has ended. New York, Minneapolis and Los Angeles are now the front lines of a war against Islamofascism.
You are wrong, Mr. Killor! It is worse than you say.
Bush is a liar. He should be told each day by prominent Democrats he is a liar.
And WHY aren’t our Democratic politicians speaking out with this fervor?? It is SO frustrating and depressing.
Interesting article, for sure. What I am certain of is that a discussion whether Americans should pick a Democrat or Republican for next president is futile - it is the whole system that needs changing. The corporations already own all of the institution of the so called democracy. Mark Twain said it well, a long time ago: We have the best Congress money can buy!
If you are serious about change, you need to start looking outside the box. Remember Pat Buchanan’s words: The democratic and republican parties are but two wings on the same bird of prey. I don’t see many solutions, other than voting with your feet and your wallets. The choice you are presented with for this presidential election is a pseudo choice.
“Dante said that the hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who in time of crisis remain neutral.” (Of course the problem with Republicans like Mr. Oplas is that they are unable to see that this country is in a serious period of crisis since they are snookered by all the lies… So good luck in the afterlife…)
For all of the others, however, let’s join the author and say our piece too! Come along with the growing crowds who have decided to speak up and show their opposition to this administration and what it does to this beautiful country: just wear red every Friday between now and election day.
Wear a little or a lot—just be sure that when you leave your house to go about your day—to work, to school, to the store, to the gas station, wherever you go in your daily routine—that everyone who sees you will see that you are wearing red because you believe in freedom and you don’t agree with our current administration’s policies at home and abroad. We’ll see that lots of us are wearing red for freedom—because WE ARE THE MAJORITY. Between now and election day, ask everyone you know to wear red for “Freedom Fridays”.
“Dante said that the hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who in time of crisis remain neutral”. (Of course Republicans like Mr. Oplas are unable to see that the country is in a serious period of crisis since they are totally snookered by all the lies… Good luck in the afterlife…) For all of the others however, let’s say our piece too! Just wear red every Friday between now and election day.
Wear a little or a lot—just be sure that when youleave your house to go about your day—to work, to school, to the store, to the gas station, wherever you go in your daily routine—that everyone who sees you will see that you are wearing red because you believe in freedom and you don’t agree with our current administration’s policies at home and abroad. We’ll see that lots of us are wearing red for freedom—because WE ARE THE MAJORITY. Between now and election day, ask everyone you know to wear red for “Freedom Fridays”.
Garrison,
I, like pretty much everyone who has posted before me, agree with you!! What you have said is what needs to be said, and needs to be shouted from every tower! It needs to be heard… not just by the Democrats and the left leaning, but it needs to be heard and understood by the center and right as well!!
But where I disagree with you is that this is a Republican problem. It is not just republicans that are causing the problems in this country… it is all of right (and all of the left who refuse to stand up to them), and militants.
That being said, it leaves us in a very scary situation for this coming election because there is no candidate who is far enough left to make things better. There is no candidate who is not a militant… there is no candidate who will fix this country. I don’t even think it could be done in a single term, or two, or three, but Kerry is not the man to do it.
We need a president who is farther left than we will ever have a president be. We need someone who will represent the people and not allow politics compromise their beliefs.
We need a second party.
Eli Scott
Sadly, America has become the Land of the “sometimes-free” and Home of the scared.
One thing I don’t get is how can Bush use 9/11 to get re-elcted when he is responsible for the greatest FAILURE of government in history?
Garrison
As another gentleman posted, I love you too, and thank you for putting such great words around our currnet national, and world tragedy. A lot of reading in the decline of empires really does suggest ours ma have already started down the decline on the backside, we are following observable historical patterns.
Just one quibble, though. A great portion of my work of late has centered on racism, its history, and the evolution of racist strategies. While I appreciate your images of Republicans of the Fifties and the era in general, wow, only White folks in small midwestern towns could see Republicans in that one light you cast (or a good deal of politicians in general). Those were still the days of Jim Crow, back of the bus, Whites Only drinking fountains, lynchings and all (of course we still have our occasional lynching). How that era is less open to criticism than our own, especially the “conservative” wing of it, is a bit perplexing, other than as a rhetorical tool.
The current neo-con false administration is so deeply evil, so deeply anti-human rights that it does not need the false idealized contrast from the Fifties. One more election in this direction and democracy’s murder will be complete, unlike Mark Twain’s who was able to say reports of his were premature.
I don’t think I have to look much further than to your words to find our generation’s Mark Twain.
Peace to you, peace to all, love your words, from a guy who used to live just down the road a piece from Lake Wobegone.
Dan Jordan, PhD
Having George W. Bush for President of the United States is a big mistake.
He should be impeached.
As a student of political history, I agree with poster Eli Scott. Although a Republican, I grew up in a house with a strong Democratic history. It is clear that conservative ascendency over the past 40 years has sent the liberals into a tailspin from which they have yet to emerge. Liberals laud Bill Clinton, but his success can be attributed to the co-option of moderate / conservative policies despite his best post-term efforts to plant a liberal face on his presidency. I would actually look forward to an unrequited liberal make a serious run for the presidency, whether within or without the Democratic Party and have a real debate on the political philosophy of the country. As an aside, during the liberal cowardice over the past 40 years, the one issue for which liberals should NEVER have ceded the high ground was on national defense. Despite the utter error of McGovern, the conservatives have made liberals pay for that mistake forever. McGovern NEVER represented historic liberal positions on national defense, yet the entire movement was branded as McGovernesque without proper response. A great failure of the movement. Christopher Hitchens represents the true historic liberal thought on defense today: he supports the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq because they ARE wars of liberal intervention, despite what GWB has called them. And the great mistake of today’s leftists? They hate Bush so much they don’t see what Hitchens sees. Another huge error that has helped to destroy liberal legitimacy in today’s polity.
This is wonderful. How quickly this list has grown. We are living in uncertain times. The economy, the newly exposed “threat” made by Mr Greenspan yesterday re: Pensions and Social Security, the perpetual war on terror I won’t go on. There is, despite everything the Republicans would like us to believe, a malaise that permeates evry aspect of our daily lives. The Image of the Twin Towers falling remains a chilling reminder of the failures of this administrations ability to lift us up out of our collective depression. It just keeps falling!
It is amazing, that more people aren’t out there
expressing their outrage. How we’ve changed. Once upon a time we had leaders who thrilled us with their often, passionate views of; who we are, what we have accomplished and what we still can do to make our lives and the lives of others better.
I am old enough to remember: JFK /MLK/ Malcom/ and the other Great Americans of our generation who never flinched from telling it like it is.
Our current leaders treat us like a herd of cattle.
How are we going to rekindle theses flames? Where are the leaders who will resurrect our passions- relight the fires of our dreams and soothe the wounds still burning from the events of 9-11 with the balm of Gilead we so urgently need.
Bush offers us perpetual war. Kerry I am not sure but atleast I know that at one time in his life he turned his boat around to save a life!
“Soothe the wounds still burning from the events of 9-11 . . .” What does that mean? The wounds to the left are self-inflicted because of their denial of its impact. The wounds to America remain unhealed because the threat exists. It is NOT Bush who ” . . .offers us perpetual war.” It will NOT BE Kerry who ” . . .offers us perpetual war” should he be elected. It is the Islamofascists who offer us perpetual war, safe in the knowledge that mutual assured destruction does not apply as a tactical response (despite our best efforts). New York. Minneapolis. Los Angeles. Moscow. London. Paris. Tokyo. Would that it not be so.
Yes, indeed, Keillor, what you say is true but begs the question: why did we allow it to happen ? Are we stupid or greedy or both ? Why is it that, of all nations on earth, we honor the conservative and bash the liberal the most ? What is there in being a conservative other than wanting to keep what you’ve got, no matter the consequences ? Isn’t that a sickness ? Why should the qualifier “liberal” have fallen into disrepute, when its intent means spreading freedom to all equally ? We have been the willing victim, propelled by our own greed, of a cabal of leeches intent on securing the wealth of a continent to themselves. Before we can hope to get rid of those parasites, we ought to have a good look at ourselves.
Great, except that those who need to read this the most probably never will.
Thank you, Garrison,
I think Kerry’s greatest challenge is to create the definite impression that he can outstrip Bush in taking care of the terrorist situation. AND, looking “friendly.” These are the only two things which some voters are clinging to as reasons for choosing the shrub in recent polls.
I want to be proud of America again!
A couple of years ago a child in Atlanta starved to death. Its unemployed parents could not find public relief or even shelter. The city’s resources were expended, and so the child died.
The President’s motto “Leave no child behind” ought to be reworded: “Leave no Republican child behind.”
“I want to be proud of America again!” What’s stopping you? Stop with this self-pity stuff. What would make you proud? France and Germany agreeing with us on something? What makes the United States wrong and those countries right? And Mr. Shulenburg, your implication that GWB is guilty of the child’s death is, well, not truly worthy of the liberal mindset. Blame and hate never won an election. Just ask the Gingrichites about the 1996 election.
It’s either going to be Bush or Kerry. Which one would we rather have for the next four years?
Please vote for Kerry.
It’s time for action! One small thing we can all do: e-mail all tv news sources and suggest that they drop the “swift boat” coverage and use the time to report the lives taken (American and Iraqi) in this failed and illegal war. Parents who attempt suicide should NOT be the only mourners to receive the media’s attention.
Unless we wish to be in the armies invading Syria, Iran and Noth Korea all Americans who love this country and Democracy need to register and vote against the Radcons currently occupying the White House. It is time to take our country back from these imposters. We need to be smarter and anticipate Karl Rove’s moves to get us embrioled in useless controversies that take the heat off the Bush regime’s record. Ignore Rove and co. and keep Bush’s failures and lies in the forefront.
“Something has gone seriously haywire with the Republican party.”
The real problem is what has happened to the Republican party in the last thirty years. The development of win-at-any-cost, scorched-earth campaigning has finally (and, sadly, necessarily) spread across the political spectrum and that is tragic. I have memories of true conservatives and principled Republicans, men like Goldwater, or Rockefeller, who could disagree and compromise at the same time. They could do so, I believe, because they were men of principle, not ideology.
In my youth I investigated ideologies, learning the arguments of everything from Marxism to market and I can argue dialectical materialism as easily as anarcho-libertarianism. As I have aged I have come to the conclusion that no ideology is safe or defensible. They are not safe because they do not admit compromise. The historian Shelby Foote once observed that “The real American genius is compromise.” I believe that he was correct, certainly that is what the American history I know teaches us. The great strength of ideology is the fervor it can inspire in its adherents. Its great danger is that its true believers are, as a consequence of their rigidity and refusal to question their own beliefs, vulnerable to manipulation by those with other goals. That, I believe, is what has happened to the Republican party. Ideologues have fallen prey to those who have agendas predicated on other priorities.
Mr. Keillor once satirized Unitarians as folks who believed that “a small light burned, somewhere…” That is the problem facing progressives and Democrats. We do not have the natural advantage of a rigid ideology. We endorse diversity and, yes, pragmatism, not the easy answers of orthodoxy.
We find ourselves the victims of our own success. We have been so free, rich, and safe, for so long, that the majority of the population no longer sees the need for voting. Or for the necessary self-education required for responsible voting, right or left.
We do need to respond to the hyperbole of the right, and I thank Mr. Keillor for doing so, and making me laugh. But we also have to perform a political miracle. We must forge a coalition of outraged moderates. I know, that sounds as oxymoronic as ‘soviet journalist’, or ‘compassionate conservative.’ But since I consider myself a ‘dead skunks and yellow stripes’ voter, since I want to do what is best for the country, and since I am viscerally outraged by the course the country has taken of late, I have a hope it is possible. Surely there are others like me out there? Look, I don’t care if you’re a Judeo-Christian-Islamic literalist or worship the Goddess or strive to realize the Eightfold Path. And I don’t care what you choose to do in your bedroom. I can honestly say that I don’t care what your position is on almost any issue. I can work with you if you are willing to honestly assess the best objective evidence and make policy decisions based on what is best for the nation, not some ideology. If you already know the answers to serious questions before I ask them, you’re in my crosshairs.
It’s time to put the grown-ups back in charge, and that’s going to mean some spanking.
An invasion of Syria will not be necessary, thanks to a number of factors that will bring down that despotic regime soon: the democratization of Iraq, the REAL freedom fighting against the Al Assad dictatorship from within by the Kurds and the persistence of American covert action. Is this a bad thing? NO! An invasion of Iran will not be necessary, thanks to a number of factors that will bring down that theocratic regime soon: the democratization of Iraq and Afghanistan and the popular uprising of the younger Iranians, whose movement the United States supports with the same fervor the Wahabbists supported the Islamics in the 1970s. An invasion of North Korea will not be necessary thanks to a number of factors that will bring down that relic soon: Implosion. Implosion. And implosion. Implosion with help from the United States and Japan. And China. And Russia. A bad thing? For you perhaps. For the North Koreans, Iranians and Syrians. No. Liberal intervention? Yes.
Julie, here’s another try. I’m doing fine. Talk to you later.
Dick
Okay, gang; we’re all just preaching to the choir here. Start thinking of ways to get the message out to the enlightenable unenlightened!
The entire basis of the intervention in Iraq was bogus logic. The idea, essentially perpetrated by Wolfowitz, is that to stabalize the region, one must create a controlled destabilization, and that other countries in the area will then be awed into submission. Wolfowitz concluded that arabs can be impressed with power, and that that is the only way to deal with them.
The experience in Iraq proves that that is not the case. Instead of creating a controlled destabliziation to resolve the problems in the middle east, we have created a quagmire. Every day, more people join the cause against us, and the nations around Iraq, rather than being frightened of us, know that we cannot intervene. Recently, when told that North Korea could very well possess operational nuclear weapons, Bush shrugged. NK knows that there is no chance that we could interevene, and, with the necessity of pulling troops out of the penisula to shore up Iraq, the chance of the war continuing increases.
In the end, every president should be judged on their record, and Bush’s record is that he is a failure. Even regardless of whether you support his policies at home (policies well laid out by Mr. Keiller), you should vote against Bush because his model for dealing with foreign affairs is fundamentally flawed.
Sir,Remind me to give you a hug if Im in town.How’s that lake said again?I’ll listen to your show on NPR in case you say it again.Thanks,Gary
Good Stuff Mr. Keillor!
What you say is clearly true, but only one way of expressing what many of us feel and live every day.
You hardly touch on the creeping loss of liberty that the economic exploitation of everything imposes on the peoples of the world. This loss is a mere symptom, but an important indicator of the state of our country and of the world. People do not freely choose to be bombed or shot or locked in a cage and held without contact with the rest of humanity. Doing these things to people creates the sort of hatred that those 19 used to drive themselves on 9/11. Doing these things is clearly wrong and will cost all of us for decades or perhaps centuries into the future.
Hatred and the ideas that fuel it are passed from person to person, but only take root in those that have hope driven from them. Neither hope nor hate has ever appeared in any bank balance, so the forces of capitalism that wield much of the power in our country will never respect them. Something else must serve to save our country and the world from fear and hate and give us hope. Flag waving, cheap food and 150 channels of cable will not do it.
You speak of the degradation of the Republican party. The Democratic party is hardly better today. Hardly different.
Perhaps the differences are enough…
You speak of fear. You demonstrate for the rest of us that we can conquer fear and do what is necessary. It is as noble a demonstration as any warrior shows in battle. Your celebrity, and the way you gained it, gives you both a podium and an obligation. You are to be commended for your courage in fulfilling that obligation, though you surely know some will not agree with you. Thank you for speaking your mind.
Change is in the air and your thoughts are a bellwether.
A.M.
Thank you,thank you Mr.Keillor. Now if we can get you a weekly spot on TV (or radio).You really know how to negate the lying, swill we are getting from the neocons.
It’s to late for a ticket with Keillor/Maher.But thank you guys for being there.
Alleluhia Mr. Keillor! You are my hero.
Garrison -
I very much agree with your commentary.
I am a life-long Republican that will be voting this year for John Kerry. I’m not sure that he will do any better by Americans than GWB - I’m doing it mainly to fire the incumbent.
And if John Kerry wins and doesn’t do something about the flow of American Jobs to Asia, I’ll vote to fire HIM in 2008!
www.rescueamericanjobs.com
www.fairus.com
“Sir, you will never understand the depth of Southern Rancour.”
Mr. Cowpox: WHO CARES!?! Your side lost the war you pathetic racist trash!
It does my heart good to know that there are passionate people out there with a will to think for themselves and try to understand how this country is being twisted to the agenda of a few elite few in power… but it makes me sad that so many of us have misdirected anger.
“Our current leaders treat us like a herd of cattle.”
I am unsure who the ‘us’ is referring to, but I will take it that it is the American people as a whole, and with that in mind I cant disagree… we are being treated like a herd of cattle because we are living like a herd of cattle. The larger group of Americans, young and old, right and left, punk democrat or republican, eat what they are told with no real urge to think, fight, or act for themselves…
“Americans who love this country and Democracy need to register and vote against the Radcons currently occupying the White House”
This makes me happy too! Because I do believe that Americans need to rally against radcons and take this country back to where I really believe it could be… the problem is that that will not happen via voting in this election. The left is virtually non-existent in national politics. There are no good options open to us. If i had to name one thing about this article and the replies to it that I agree with the least, its that this is the fault of the republicans… I do not believe that. It is too narrow to say that republicans are to blame for everything… conservatives and passive liberals are the larger group that bares the burden.
Any American who understood it should be enraged about something like the USA PATRIOT act being passed, and every single congressman (save one) voted for it… that is because conservatives pushed it and liberals didn’t have the spine to stand against it. Our ‘representatives’ didn’t and still don’t represent us.
That is the problem, not republicans or a view differing from ours, it is the one-party system that has been created in this country that is the problem.
Eli
I couldn’t agree with Mr. Keillor more, and I am glad he has a pulpit. I am also thankful that so many of the people that replied have intelligent and incisive comments about Mr. Keillor’s commentary.
I am disappointed, but not surprised by the foregoing Oplas comment because it typifies the sanctimonious, ignorant attitude that so many bushies have about their flawed hero. Let’s not forget, this president used to blow up frogs with a firecracker when he was a kid, and while real men and women were fighting or protesting during Vietnam he was a drunken cheeleader vomiting his way through Yale and the Air National Guard. Tragically for us and much of the rest of the world, this frat house fool gifted with too much money and too little brains has done well (well, that is if you count the hand up he’s had all his life from his daddy’s friends).
It is a sad comment on the current state of the country and the ability of a people to critically think that such an untalented, illiterate individual could become president. I feel sorry for Oplas and his or her ilk because it must be terribly unfulfilling to be so enamored of mediocrity. At least my heroes deserve the accolades.
Well, enough said. Please, all of you vote this November - our country is at stake. Oh yeah, Mr. Keillor, please keep on spearing the republicans and bring the Prairie Home Companion Show to central New York. Thank you.
You have expressed my feelings in a way I could not.Those who would put the present resident back in the White House do not want a President but a Dictator. We are headed for an autocrisy the likes of which the modern world has never seen. Garrison, I am reminded of the old hymn that says “We are the sweet selected few, the rest may all be damned, there’s room enough in Hell for you, we don’t want heaven crammed.” It’s time for a huge change !!!
Someone posted that those who can afford to make political contributions, should. True, but ... even if you cannot afford to write a big fat check, go ahead and make a donation to John Kerry’s campaign. Is there any way you can afford 4 more years of George W. ?
My brother Garrison speaketh my mind, and I am grateful.
My greatest regret is that there is no real punishment for the likes of George Dubbyah Bush.
Like his father before him, the worst that can happen is he’s thrown out of office, then he promptly joins the boards of hundreds of companies, and uses all the connections he’s made while in the oval office to peddle influence and profit personally.
Where’s the downside to that?
For the first time since the Republicans stoned the finest President of this land without mercy for a human foiblewhich although not ommendable has been common among those in power, and at horrendous cost, and then with the grace of the high and mighty judges of this land stole the presidency away from the party preferred by the vast majority of US citizens I read your letter and begin to have a wee bit of hope again. Not pride; Mr. Bush has demolished my pride in being an American, and my hubris and security are gone.
I was stunned when a friend whom I’d previously thought astute admitted being a supporter of this inept, power seeking megalomaniac who has been bought and paid for and stamped fini by those whose agenda does not include support for this planet, let alone our countrymen. And he doesn’t even know it, pauvre petit puppet!
Incredible what diabolical PR men can create out of smoke with a burlap bag full of dollars, making a mahogany desk out of a knotty pine bough. But not for you, and not for me.
VOTE!!!
Great writing, Mr. Keillor, as usual. Some thoughts for all of you other scribes -
I just spent a large part of my day canvassing door-to-door for Kerry and our wonderful, idiosyncratic Senator Russ Feingold. You all may remember him as the only senator who did not vote for the Patriot Act. The man most likely to oppose him, once the Republicans have their primary next month, has a commerical running where he takes Feingold to task for failing to support “our president.”
You must understand that the Republican Party/Media Machine have succeeded in convincing themselves and much of the population that they actually won the last election. Even those who voted for Gore or Nader fail to emphasize that Bush got the votes of far less than half the voting population last time, and that translates to a small percentage of those actually qualified to vote if only they had done so. One must never stop repeating this truth. One must never use the term “reelection” in reference to Bush, simply because he was not elected in the way most people understand that term.
Further, this may be the first time in history that a campaign strategy has been based on characterizing more than half the voters as morons and traitors. How is it that non-Republicans have been willing to sit still for this for nearly four years? I never fail to firmly point out to any right winger I encounter that in fact, there is a substantial number of people who love this country who believe our current president is an illegitimate occupant of the White House, that we have tolerated his shenanigans without taking to the streets or even being particularly disrespectful, and that we have given him every reasonable chance to discharge his duties with competence and grace. He has utterly failed to leverage the opportunity provided to him by the Supreme Court, and now shall have to make a case for himself in the court of public opinion.
The good news is this: I spoke with many people today in an area that is solidly Republican. The majority told me that they would never vote for Bush again, meaning they had last time. They further told me that their wives/husbands, parents/siblings, etc. were all voting for Kerry. The few Republicans I encountered who are still supporting Bush were often willing to answer my questions about their concerns as voters and all but one named health care as their number one concern. Many of them are going to split their tickets and vote for Feingold. Whenever I heard this, I asked them to take another look at Kerry, and some said they would.
The Bush supporters were uniformly defensive, though I am a middle aged woman, introduced myself as a neighbor and was very laid back, smiling, etc. Their houses tended to be adorned with flags and wooden flag ornaments, and lots of signs saying, “God Bless America.” They seemed afraid…embattled.
The Kerry supporters, by vivid contrast, were defiantly angry. They were all in that mode of “I’m mad as hell and I’m just not going to take it anymore!” It was energizing and inspiring to speak with these people.
Then there were a few undecided voters and most of them were willing to discuss their issues. I asked them if they really believed the current administration was going to address those needs over the next four years. None stated confidentIy that they felt that was the case. I asked them to consider Kerry. I know that I made a difference today.
So, if you possibly can, please volunteer to walk a neighborhood. Dress nice, put on your party manners as my mother used to say, and just get out there and talk with people. I think there are many people who simply need to see that there are lots of nice, normal, sane people supporting Kerry. Change is frightening for some people, but we can make it less intimidating. We can show them that they don’t need to be afraid. Give it a try and if you just can’t bring yourself to talk with your neighbors, or folks who are a little different from you…well then maybe you better work on that.
I’ve just emailed this piece to friends and family. I’m doing my patriotic duty tomorrow morning - marching past Madison Square Garden and protesting the RNC. We don’t want them here. They are exploiting 9/11 and it is shameful. I’m glad to see that the firefighters told Bloomberg and Bush that they would only do a photo-op in one of the fire houses that were closed down due to lack of money. Right on guys! My sister is a NYC cop and she supports Kerry. Any union member that votes for Bush needs to seriously re-think their position and vote in their best interest.
These words are beyond anger—they are laced with an agony of our beloved country snatched from us. This is the election of our lives. The course of America must change or we will end up like the Soviet Union—decayed, hopeless, and fractured—and unspeakable poverty for the working class. Bush should be impeached for incompetence at the least and abuse of power at the most telling. This IS a call to arms at the voting booths. We absolutely must energize our young people to vote and then take their rightful place in making this country great once more.
Marty Meyer, Ph.D.
Inre “A Pen Warmed-Up in Hell,” we shout Bravo!
I LOVE YOU, Garrison! Be you scathingly serious or phenomenally facetious, you are always THE GREATEST! (Love those Republican sketches you do on radio!)
I keep telling myself that the right and the good have got to prevail because God will not have it any other way. Yet in these times it seems practically hopeless. It is totally scary the way the right-wingers have appropriated the radio airwaves unto themselves; one can scarcely find a sane voice in that genre anymore, you and PBS being that rare exception.
PLEASE - KEEP FIGHTING THE GOOD FIGHT; WE CANNOT AFFORD TO LOSE!
Forget what you have always voted. Forget that your parents always voted the same way. Ask yourself if you are better off today than you were 4 years ago (health care, education, jobs, economy, veteran benefits, Clean air, etc), then vote your conscience on November 2, 2004. Don’t buy into the argument that you don’t change Presidents during a war. The war against terrorism will continue far beyond the 8 year presidential tenure possible. The war against Iraq was unjust and has cost the lives of over 972 Americans. The arguments for this war were all bogus - the only reason for going to war was if the threat was imminent - it was not. Americans don’t initiate wars without just cause. Vote Bush and his chickenhawks out on November 2, 2004.
Hey Rich,
Knock it off. This is not a chat board. State your position then get the hell off so others can post.
Trillions of dollars are at stake and the facist right will leave no stone unturned to continue on their present path. A second Bush administration will finish ripping the guts out of our national treasures. If the neocons are succussful in re-installing him as President, my mom’s favorite old saying will ring true. It is simply, “You ain’t seen nothing yet.”
I LOVE YOU, Garrison! Be you scathingly serious or phenomenally facetious, you are always THE GREATEST! (Love those Republican sketches you do on radio!)
I keep telling myself that Good and Right have got to prevail because God will not have it any other way; however, in these times it all seems so very hopeless. It is totally scary the way the right-wingers have appropriated the talk-radio media unto themselves. One can scarcely find a sane voice in this genre anymore - you and PBS being the rare exception.
KEEP FIGHTING THE GOOD FIGHT; WE CANNOT AFFORD TO LOSE THIS ONE!
A piece sent to me, on the internet, spewing hate for the Arabs and claiming that they would never say they were sorry to the prisoners abused at Abu Garib. made me realize that the party of compassion ‘under God” jad lost all sight of humanity, but were hateful war mongers, greedy, self-serving, self engrandizing with no thought how small our planet is and that we need to care for it and all those alive on it.
Your letter encapsulates it beautifully and the extent they will go without an ethical whim to win at all costs - truly, we are looking EVIL in the face.
I always thought this country was strong enough with checks and balances to withstand any idiot in the White House, but GWB has proven me wrong over and over again. His henchmen have had over 30 years of experience in Dirty tricks and he is their pawn and willing puppet.
To save our democrcy as a way of life - we must support Kerry/Edwards - men with honor and not the depraved history of GWB.
Hmmm…<a >Lincoln</a> was no friend of liberty:
—Abraham Lincoln
I would argue that the Republicans are returning to the policies of Lincoln (strong centralized government).
The concentration of wealth and power in the hands of the few is the death knell of democracy. No republic in the history of humanity has survived this. The election of 2004 will say something about what happens to ours. The omens are not good
Hmmm…Kerry’s net worth is <a >20 times more</a> than George Bush’s net worth. Or look at the party affiliation of most of the <a >top 100</a> individual contributors in this election. Methinks Keillor doesn’t really mind the concentration of wealth and power—he’s just upset that the power isn’t being concentrated in the hands he favors.
If Keillor were really concerned about the concentration of power, he would be advocating downsizing government, and returning money and power to individuals and local level goverments. Unfortunately, both Keillor’s candidate Kerry and Bush are just fighting to see who gets control of an ever expanding government.
How honored I feel to have adopted Minnesota as my home. THank you Mr. Keillor. Let me echo Jacob’s call for those who can support Kerry financially to do so, and those of us who cannot to volunteer and volunteer again. WHen Mr. Reagan was elected I lit a candle, closeted myself in my studio, cried and prayed because of what I feared this election might hold. Thus when Mr. G.W. Bush was elected I hoped that my worse fears would prove to be unfounded (as they were to a degree by Mr. Reagan’s election). I was wrong. Our civilization is already in steep decline and in grave danger if we allow these people to continue to run rampant.
I don’t understand why the party of the most intelligent people can’t un-seat Bush. Democrats have as supporters, actors and actresses who can convince the world with such powerful portrayals of any human characteristic and personality at will. They now also have big money behind them. Why can’t the Democrats convince the moderate Republicans that Bush is dangerous and undeserving of another term? What am I missing?
Dear Garrison, I spoke to you at the Tanglewood concert last year about how afraid I was by this governement. You said it would be alright, don’t be afraid. Are you afraid now? We gave in without much protest to the sham in Florida and the Supreme Court appointment, thinking it was best for the country. But now we will not go the way of Germany in the 30s. Good people there were deceived too until they lost all rights and it was too late to protest. We must look at Corporationism. Corporationism gives the legal right to businesses to do what individuals cannot do with out breaking the law. This governement in attacking government itself is trying to free corporations from all laws that require that the common good be protected. This is not Americanism. This is not freedom and justice for all. This is the beginning of capitalistic totalitarianism. I am so glad you are writing plainly.
Read your article. I totally understand your anger because I feel it too. It runs through my veins, it pulses in my head, it hardens my heart.
I have seriously thought of moving out fo the country should Bush win. People do not realize what damage this administration has caused and how much time and effort it will take to repair the damage both domestically and foreign.
Books that expose this administration are best-sellers.
F-911 is the highest grossing documentary on opening weekend ever.
Theaters and auditoriums are SRO when liberal and progressive speakers are in town.
The majority of actual votes were for Gore in 2000.
Look up the definition of juggernaut in the dictionary. But God forbid any liberal might sound strident!
Thank you so much for this. Please keep writing, sharing and helping us to articulate this very very long list of what this administration has done to us and our country.
It’s amazing that so many “little” sheep follow this. I’m sorry that you all are angry about losing the 2000 vote. I’m sorry that you all have lost the Senate and the House. You all should really get a grip on fighting back, (except for this mess).
I truly feel sorry for the Dems becuase you all have to support John Kerry.. had you nominated Joe Lieberman you would have been all set, but you made the choice of John Kerry. Just don’t blame us, because you all like to do that. And don’t cry on Nov 3rd becuase you all like to do that also.
Observe playground bulllies. They inflate their self-images by belittling others and calling those whom they harass crybabies, whether anyone is crying or not.
Bullies: your punching bags aren’t crying now. They’re angry, and getting organized, and learning to use their mouths too, only with brains engaged.
Wow.. you are feeling the heat, becuase I was not even rough.. it’s ok.. we’ll comfort you on Nov 3rd
I agree with everything that Keillor says, save for his oft-heard statement that America is a “great” country. Isn’t this type of egoistic pontificating the very same slogan that the Republicans often use to incite Americans into a type of national chuvanism that encourages us to rationalize support for everything the U.S. government ever does, here and abroad? Is this slogan and belief not the very crux of the misuse of patriotism by those overladden with hubris?
I am not looking to get anyone here angry, nor try to diminish any of the wonderful observations and anecdotes that Keillor made in this article, but simply to add a bit of critical thought on the validity of that one particular slogan. Let’s concentrate on turning America into a nation of *good* people, rather than encouraging to think of ourselves as *great.* From the perspective of most of the rest of the world, America is not “great,” but a problem. Let’s see it as such until we can make it over as per Keillor’s suggestions, and not dive head-first into the same type of thinking that is used to justify the draconian actions of the post-Nixonian Republicans.
Mr. Keiller,
I’m the daughter of immigrants; my father and mother came to America in 1956 with only the clothes on their backs, not knowing a word of English. They came here fleeing Communism.
My father fought in the Hungarian Revolution of 1956; a few years ago, his fellow Freedom Fighters (who are now all proud American citizens) choose him to represent them when then-Gov. Edgar proclaimed October 23rd Hungarian Freedom Fighter Day in honor of their attempt to fight down the mighty Soviet army with molotov cocktails and blood, sweat, and many, many tears.
My parents came to this country so that their descendants could live in peace and freedom. As your masterful writing and my very own eyes have shown these many years, the dream of my parents—and the sacrafices they made to come to this nation—may soon have been in vain.
Fortunately, there *are* those who show themselves to be heroic in trying and difficult times—risking their own comfort and security and position for the greater good.
Thank you for being counted among the heroes, Mr. Keiller.
In gratitude,
Ilona
======================
P.S. As Elie Weisal stated at the occasion of accepting the Nobel Peace Prize:
“And then I explain to him how naïve we were, that the world did know and remained silent. And that is why I swore never to be silent whenever wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation.
We must take sides.
Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant.
Wherever men and women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must – at that moment – become the center of the universe.”
If Bush gets in again we will be in another war. We have a murder rate that would put any other western nation to shsme.
What did the Taliban do with the money (43 million dollars) that Bush gave to them in May of 2001?
Richard
I don’t know the Republicans ever as the party of moderates (“the Nixon moderates vanished like the passenger pigeon”). It has its deluded moderate followers but never its leaders. Keillor does not mention Joe McCarthy, the great Republican immoderate from his neighboring state of Wisconsin of whom Nixon was just a twin in those sainted years of the ‘50s. But this is just carping. Keillor hits the nail on the head when he talks about W. The only way out of the quicksand that guy is immersing us in and which Keillor so well describes is to vote Kerry in on Nov. 3rd.
George the II’s accession to the presidency of the United States will mark the date in history when our nation’s experiment in republican democracy ended. With an ersatz election under his belt and an unauthorized war against a third world country to dispose of a tinhorn dictator, the constitution has become a dead letter and the congress a “confederacy of dunces”.
Freedom of speech and association will be the next victims. Already, those who do not support this cabal are being accused of treason. Soon, under the guise of homeland security and faith-based initiatives, government spies and infiltrators will be everywhere; in the workplace, in the churches, in the universities, all with the acquiescence and compliance of the media. Some citizens will be silenced and then “re-educated”. Others will simply disappear. Am I paranoid? You had better believe it! The bright shining light that was America has been extinguished. The dark ages have returned and we shall all “Inherit the Wind”.
Regards,
Joseph V. Purcell
1400 Forrest Avenue
Nashville, Tennessee 37206
615.650.0141
Garrison should have spoken these words at the Democratic convention. Of course, the networks and cable outlets would not have allowed them to be “aired”. Just so much hype. Well these words in his article are so powerful and so true, it is imperative that the American public hear them over and over again. This nation is in peril if Bush is again “chosen” (never elected). We have a hard job ahead, and we must all get to work. Our survival depends on it!
Lots of creative hand-wringing and intellectual muscle-flexing going on here, but what are you all doing? Could we hear some comments about how folks are reaching out to others in their community to persuade them to join us in actively opposing Bush? We need to encourage one another to get on our feet and actually do something! It doesn’t take any courage or effort to sit around and talk to our like-minded friends about how bad things are getting.
One thing that’s been pointed out, and I think accurately, by the media is that the Democratic Party is not really a party, but a coalition of interest groups with little in common aside from their loathing for George Bush. I’ve been out canvassing among working people, and doing follow-up phoning, and this is true. If we work hard, we may achieve a victory in November - but that will only be the beginning. We must continue to work and sacrifice beyond the election to build a true progressive coalition that will support local candidates and begin the strangulation of this fascist/corporatist weed that has taken root.
It is true that in many ways Kerry just puts a prettier face and an expanded vocabulary on the situation in which we find ourselves. It’s not going to be enough to replace this president and his advisors and turn the clock back to the Clinton regime. Once the election is over, no matter which way it goes, the real work will begin. It’s not going to be enough to stop the ship of state, we then have to turn it around in a very narrow channel.
Are liberals and progressives willing to roll up their sleeves and make some personal sacrifices to do this? It is clear that the Republican base has been persuaded to vote in a manner that is contrary to their economic interests to support this regime. You could argue that they are not aware of the threat to their civil liberties and world peace, but you would be at least somewhat mistaken. They don’t always see it that way. They are, in fact, willing to sacrifice some of their own liberties in order to deny them to homosexuals, women seeking abortions, those who do not attend churches of which they approve, and anyone whom they perceive to be a threat to their personal security. This is what we are confronting.
So, what are we willing to do beyond posting to message boards, congratulating each other on our profound grasp of the situation, and joining the occasional march down main street? This is going to take lots of money and muscle. Have we got it?
What a shame that many of these “solemn” comments are filled with bile and name calling, not only of President Bush, but of his supporters.
Amen!
A brief note to three posters before signing off. I have enjoyed receiving others’ postings since I posted on Friday night, but the volume of emails has overwhelmed me (and I have some hay fields to cut today).
First to Joanne—you’re right that we must work, and work hard, in the next ten weeks to trim Bush. I spent last Monday and Tuesday in West Memphis, Arkansas registering new voters—13 hours a day in the sun, but worth every minute. I helped register at least 56 new voters, 95%+ of whom are Kerry supporters. Two of them had not voted for decades (one woman for 31 years!!) but to a person, everyone felt that they could not stay on the sidelines this time.
If well-grounded fear is what we need to revive our democracy, then I can say that “it’s all good”. But it will be better if we do everything necessary to retake America from the right-wing coup that started in every community that denied people the right to vote in 2000 and ended in the Supreme Court. So all of us should carry voter registration forms with us at all times, engage everyone we know in a brief political conversation and—if someone presents an appropriate opportunity—we should register them on the spot. You can download voter registration forms for your state easily off the net, or pick them up at your election commission. We have about a month in most states to get this done.
Two final brief notes: To Christopher—Kerry’s fortune is not 20 times greater than Bush’s wealth; his wife’s fortune is. And Republicans keep forgetting that her first husband was a Republican. So please don’t confuse who accumulated that wealth with where it ended up.
And Joel, Joel—what can we say, oh ye of simple mind and simpler phrase? Yes, we feel the heat of righteous indignation, and it is impelling many more of us to action than ever before. And in November, you will see the light—attached to a speeding, hundred mile long train—filled with fed-up folks who will send your squashed self behind your suburban, walled-in gates, to sulk in Humvee-wrapped silence. But don’t be surprised to find fewer of your too-well-off neighbors with you. Because those neighbors whose prior Republicanism was based on some of the worthy principles that Garrison articulated early on in his article won’t be there with you. They’ll be outside the walls that Duh-bya helped build between us, sharing with the rest of us the free air of a no-longer-foundering democracy.
As one of the Arad news reporters said in “Control Room”, “The world doesn’t need another superpower to keep America in check—we have democracy and the Constitution to do that, as long as the American people continue to embrace and use those tools for their own sake and the sake of the world at large.” How true. And how sad for those like Joel who crawled out from under their rocks a while back. The heat and light of a democratic sunlight will crack and wither their slimy skin and festering brains soon enough.
Defend women. Defend children. Defend the elderly. Defend the soldiers. Defend people of color. Defend America. Defend the earth. Defeat Duh-bya.
I’m not the biggest Keillor fan. If Mark Twain were Keillor, he’d have written about the good, old Tory colonial days swilling a cool one at the Tubby Boar Inn or dancing at the corn shuck—instead of writing about things like slavery.
But he does hit one over the fence now and then. This one is good writing _and_ significant.
Garrison Keillor is a soft-spoken genius with an incredible gift for telling tales that take all of us to where we would like to be. I listen to the PHC every week. Someone else said it right that he hit the nail on the head so hard that the head popped off. My hat is off to an amazing patriotic man whose mission I share. I love and celebrate you, Mr. Keillor.
National treasures? For this administration, they are just resources to be exploited.
Social programs? For this administration, they are evil, and need to be bankrupted so even a new administration won’t afford to reinstate them.
What a bunch of crap.
Left winged nutcases.
I’ll have you know I voted for the mouthpiece of NPR before I voted against him.
Bush is evil and is hiding behind someone he calls God, and someone I call evil. The idiots that will vote for Bush cannot see the evil he exudes. This is a battle against evil and all it entails.
I LOVE YOU, Garrison! Be you scathingly serious or phenomenally facetious, you are always THE GREATEST! (Love those Republican sketches you do on radio!)
I keep telling myself that Right and Good have got to prevail because God will not have it any other way; yet, in these times, it seems so very hopeless. It is totally scary the way that the right-wingers have appropriated the talk-radio medium unto themselves. One can scarcely find a sane voice in that genre anymore - you and PBS being the rare exception.
KEEP FIGHTING THE GOOD FIGHT; WE CANNOT AFFORD TO LOSE THIS ONE!!!
God bless and keep you!
If this is the “best President since the end of WWII” it must be worse than I thought.
This is the person who has difficulty understanding the difference between “prosecution” and “persecution” (“W” speech in 2001), someone who has misjudged (as indicated by his own admission last week), misled (by the findings of the 9/11 commission) and mismanaged (by the indications of the lack of leadership in regard the prison incident, to Najaf, Haliburton, etc, etc, etc.).
It is sad when so many in our country are sitting in the dark and have yet to see the light. If going to war in Iraq after 9/11 was not enough to turn on the light, then I’m not sure what is. Instead of fighting the terrorism that hurt and killed so many innocent people, the powerful leaders in Washington have created a “hotbed” for it to grow. We need a man who is a leader and stands for what he believes in instead of an illiterate puppet on a string who does what those under him (like his daddy and Cheney) tell him to do. This country was built on democracy and freedom for all, but that freedom is slowly being taken away. Wake up America before it is too late!!!
Thank you,keillor, I am glad you are expressing the sentiments of so many of us that are not represented in the main stream media. I always say, “they aren’t polling me!” I am depressed as many of the commenters seem to be. I work as a hairdresser in an area where people are from all economic levels and I am upset because so many people have no Idea how much worse off we are after 3+ years of the bush administration. We need to get that liar and his corporate cronies out of office! It is going to take years to udo the damage, and our children will be paying for the mistakes we have made. Lets get everyone to vote for Kerry/Edwards in 2004. as Arianna Huffington says"Bush republicans have offered a messianic vision of a new world built on tax cuts.This call has proved incredibly alluring:its clear,it’s broad, and it’s accessible. Democrats need to present a vision that is equally clear, broad and accessible, and that answers the fundamental question:what sort of america do we want to live in?”
test
I believe the Bush administration’s power derives from the nation’s love affair with passive media absorption. We’ve become a nation of followers and cheerleaders, and we follow politics and the discussion of cultural values with the blind allegiance of a sports fan, my cause right or wrong. We talk the talk, but no longer walk any walk. No Existentialist angst allowed, you are what you “believe”.
Someone mentioned the incongruity of GOP support by low wage earners and uneducated people generally. The reason is distraction, to avoid discussing real, more complex issues, issues that demand more than the voter’s arm-chair indignation.
Bush has made a political career out of pushing issues that do not require citizens to actually do anything, other than be pissed off at some group they’d prefer to judge than try to understand. The great uniter, indeed!
Bush convinces his adherents that support for these issues means he’s on their side, when his real agenda continues to be completely handing over the regulatory functions of government to those special business industry interests, who do not have the good of the citizenry at heart.
The next time a right-to-lifer is spewing their uncompromising opinions, ask them how many underprivileged children they’ve adopted, or what contribution they’ve made to easing the suffering of the world’s most unfortunate.
The next time an Iraq-war supporter explains why your children should die in a foreign land to protect American oil interests, while the Bush administration pays lip service to any real alternative energy plans, which might free us of our dependency on foreign oil, check their credentials. This will weed out the growing ranks of Chicken Hawks, who identify themselves these days, by congratulating you up front, for your service.
I always believed that the conservative view of business was the less regulation by the government, the better, except when it’s clear that a business or industry is acting against the public interest. Teddy Roosevelt was a great example of a conservative president who embodied this value. Jim Hightower recently joked that the business special interests no longer have to worry about lobbying the government, as they have, in effect, become the government, a fact reflected in Bush naming only industry figures to key regulatory posts, from the cabinet level on down.
This is an aspect that is never discussed by the GOP, and instantly draws name-calling and ridicule from the right when someone raises the issue. To use one of far too many examples, does any one seriously believe that Dick Cheney, and the Enrons of the energy industry, held private meetings to develop energy legislation, so that they can further the interests of the average citizen?
Teddy Roosevelt once said, “Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official, save exactly to the degree in which he himself stands by the country. It is patriotic to support him insofar as he efficiently serves the country. It is unpatriotic not to oppose him to the exact extent that by inefficiency or otherwise he fails in his duty to stand by the country. In either event, it is unpatriotic not to tell the truth, whether about the president or anyone else.”
Total elitist BS.
When the left starts praising Nixon and the Vietnam war, it is obvious that they are as unprincipled as their critics said they were when they protested them.
Dennis
Our nation is at peril for what we once took for granted, but Kerry is showing himself to be totally inept at getting his arms around the issues.His response to the slime Swift boat ads was late and limp, and this demonstates to many that his leadership skills in a time of such crisis for his campaign are lacking, as so much of his campaign has been.
Excuse me, for I suspect my message will not be immediately welcome in this “fest”, I just want to say something to you in all sincerity:
1. You all sound so intolerant of those with different political views - of different world-views. This does not sound like my image of “liberals” - well known for their tolerance of their neighbors. Just re-read this conversation thread and you will see it.
2. Have you heard of the “electoral college”? Do you know what it means? I am curious. And please be honest. What would be your reaction if - after the *next* election - we all discover that Bush won the popular vote but Kerry (or Nadar, for that matter) won the electoral college vote and - backed up by the supreme Court - is thus elected the next President. Would you consider him (Kerry or Nadar) the true President? It would be ironic, true. But, honestly, what would be your reaction? And what would you want of the Republicans as they address and work with the newly elected President?
I send this as a former Democrat. I voted for Gore and every Democratic presidental candidate before him - beginning with McGovern. I am not stupid. I suspect my educational level is “higher” than most engaging in this covnersation. I am not greedy and I am not hateful. In fact, I love my family, my neighbors, and my counry. For 22 years, I have worked for non-profit organizations serving vulnerable populations and I have sacrificed higher salaries to do so. These are my credentials I provide so that you will be more open to consider what I am sayng in this comment.
I say this because I want to challenge you to do what you seem to want “the others” to do - i.e. to take a look at the beam in your own eye before trying to pick out the sliver in the other’s eye.
I am challenging you all to look beyond stereotypes. Just review this covnersation thread. What do you see? Can you see the stereotyping?
As a former liberal, as a former Democrat, I see it clearly and I am challenging you to be a more introspective about all of this. I am challenging you to dare to think that we all have much to learn from each other. None of us - on the right, left or center - holds a corner on the truth.
It is a mistake to underestimate the other and to overestimate ourselves. Can you accept this challenge?
Remember, we are all Americans. Those of us some of you call “Bible-thumpers” or “right-wingers” love justice and peace every bit as much as you do.
Please check your language with love. And if “Republican” Americans are your “enemy”, love your enemy. And reflect on the fact that you are talking about your fellow Americans as if they (we) are your enemy.
Sincerely sent.
Dear Garrison,
Thanks for your excellent lament re the lamentable Republicans. I counter with my lament, which is also a call to action, and which I imagine myself orating (don’t laugh) from the podium at the DNC:
Doug Lane
Los Angeles
HOW CAN THEY BE SO STRONG?
How can the likes of Cheney and Perle be so strong? They look very weak to me: liars, swindlers, operators in the shadows…... How does Cheney’s 4-alarm heart go on beating? And Bush? This is a strong man? He’s barely there. But he’s propped up pretty firmly. These guys are only as strong as the American peoples’ capacity for self-deception & delusion, which is very very strong. They’re strong the way the NRA hysterics who fight for the right to party with assault weapons are strong, they’re strong the way election saboteurs like Katherine Harris are strong, they’re strong the way Halliburton war profiteers are strong, they’re strong the way pro-life terrorists and assassins are strong, they’re strong the way TV talking-head thugs are strong, they’re strong the way lumbermen colluding with Ann Venneman and Gayle Norton to pillage the national forests are strong, they’re strong the way cynical Tom Delay-led Congressmen who pass taxcut after trillion dollar taxcut for the upper 1% are strong, they’re strong the way Tom Ridge strongly warns us of another terror threat every time Bush’s polls need goosing, they’re strong the way Rumsfeld strongly flung the Geneva Convention into the trash can while he gave the go ahead to torturers in Gitmo and Abu Ghraib, they’re strong the way the Big Brass is strong when they decide to let wretched lowlife reservist PFC’s like Lynndie England take the heat for the Abu Ghraib scandal, they’re strong with the strength that comes from pulling America out of nuqular disarmament agreements, international law treaties, Kyoto environmental treaties, they’re strong with the strength that comes from devastating our ties to former friends & Nato allies like the French and Germans, they’re strong with the strength that comes from never using diplomacy but always relying on violence, they’re strong with the strength that comes from penning dissenters in barbed wire “free speech zones,” they’re strong with strength that comes from asking others to sacrifice while they and their cronies cash in with no-bid contracts, corporate welfare, golden parachutes, and deficit raids on Social Security and Medicare, they’re strong with the strength that comes from fixing the rules of the economic game Enron-style and calling it a free market, they’re strong with the strength of always seeking to divide, not unify, they’re strong with the strength of voters whom they induce to vote against themselves, they’re strong with the strength that comes with fanning the flames of fear, they’re strong with the strength born of narrow self-interest, they’re strong with appeals to family values even as they shred families by destroying the working and middle classes, they’re strong with the strength of outsourcing, they’re strong with the almost overwhelming strength of hypocrisy, they’re strong with the strength of lobbyists, of special interests, of backrooms, of government for sale, they’re strong with the strength of men who tell the American people what to think instead of encouraging them to think for themselves, they’re strong with the strength of loathing for learning even as they promise to leave no child behind, they’re strong with the strength of men who never admit their own mistakes, no matter how devastating and bloody those errors of judgment have proven to be, they’re strong with the strength of lies asserted with perfect conviction, they’re strong with the strength of fraud, they’re strong the way those who never dialogue, who are incapable of dialogue, are strong, they’re strong the way rulers who have perfect contempt for the people are strong, they’re strong the way a people who have perfect contempt for themselves, and who therefore surrender ultimate responsibility for themselves, are strong, they’re strong the way a stubbornly blind faithbased contituency is strong, they’re strong the way a nation which has lost its way is strong, they’re strong the way a nation of gluttons in a starving world is strong, they’re strong the way Chickenhawks who let others bleed for their mistakes are strong, they’re strong the way spinmeisters who base policies on polls are strong, they’re strong the way media monopolists are strong, they’re strong the way Uncle Toms are strong, they’re strong with the strength of homophobia, they’re strong the way men who see the flag as a brand to be exploited are strong, they’re strong because they see patriotism as the last refuge of scoundrels such as themselves, they’re strong because they’re stamping out Liberty’s light, they’re strong because they preach Freedom Freedom Freedom and they practice repression repression repression, they’re strong because they gut the Bill of Rights, they’re strong because they use the Constitution as asswipe, they’re strong because they pray the Old South will rise again, this time with wage slaves of all colors, they’re strong because they encourage Christian and Jewish fundamentalists to hate Moslem fundamentalists, they’re strong because they ride the back of the tiger and spur the tiger on, they’re strong because they’re oilocrats, they’re strong because they destroy wildlife refuges on principle, not simply out of greed, they’re strong because they love hate and embody hate while purporting to love, they’re strong because they deify greed, they’re strong because they institutionalize injustice, they’re strong because they foster lies and live by them, they’re strong because they operate in shadows & secrecy and hate the light, they’re strong because they bully and intimidate and deceive, they’re strong because they admit nothing, they’re strong because their words & images mean whatever they pay them to mean, they’re strong because they’re Humpty Dumpties and they’re sitting on a wall, they’re strong because they subvert the vote, they’re strong because they don’t do what Jesus would have done, they’re strong because they would rather build more nukes than get rid of them, they’re strong because they attack the wrong enemies and offend former friends, they’re strong because they play into the hands of our enemies, they’re strong because they believe power is the highest good and they will hold it by any means necessary.
They’re strong because 9/11 is the best thing that ever happened to them, they’re strong because they did not hesitate to exploit the fear and goodwill and unity of the nation and the world. They’re strong because they’re going it alone and letting others do their fighting for them. They’re strong because they see respect for the truth as weakness. They’re strong because they say one thing and do another and they rarely mean what they say or say what they mean. They’re strong because their highest allegiance is to narrow self-interest, not to the nation or the world. They strong because they cannot imagine the future or remember the past and are blind to the present. They’re strong because they shamelessly and cynically invoke the name of God and claim God is on their side instead of praying that they are on God’s side. They’re strong because they shoot first and ask questions later. Actually, they never ask questions unless they are forced to because they believe they already have the answers. They’re strong because they believe that power comes out of the barrel of a gun and they cannot imagine power that is not violent. They’re strong because they believe they are the chosen ones, the frozen ones. They’re strong because their front man never does his homework, but gladly allows them to do his homework for him. They’re strong because they have a crushing contempt for the facts. They’re strong because they silence whisteblowers and exile dissenters and slander those who would tell truth to power. They’re strong because they love bad science. They’re strong because they’re denying we’re warming the globe. They’re strong because they somehow imagine they can engineer an apocalypse without going down themselves, or else they’ve so lost sight of joy or are so eaten up with hate & fear that they’re turning the whole world into a carbomb with themselves at the wheel. They’re strong because they lead the fight against terrorism yet they are themselves terrifying. They’re strong because they promise to save the nation they are destroying. They’re strong because they’ve alienated America from the rest of the world and they’ve alienated Americans from ourselves. They’re strong because they find a government of the people, for the people, by the people to be a laughable, exploitable, slogan. They’re strong because they exploit our weakness and indifference and ignorance at every turn. They’re strong because they think they are the ultimate players and they’re playing us and they’re playing the world and they think governing is great game, not a sacred responsibility. They’re strong because they think they will go on forever.
Let’s prove them wrong. Before they take us down with them.
Great comments Garrison.
What I have come to determine about people who support the President is that they can only see the world from the standpoint of “what’s in it for me?”. This doesn’t mean they’re bad people but that they just can’t stand back and think about things clearly because they are overcome by some kind of patriotic religion and belief in self-interest.
Fact is that if one of these people has something happen in their life that forces them to confront the realities of their positions (read Dick Cheney and his Gay daughter, Nancy Reagan and stem-cell research, etc.) then they tend to see that things are more gray than they think and the idea of “the greater good” slips into their mind. Governments, and participation in a society (or even an economy) cannot be based strictly on “what’s in it for me?” approach.
Unless America wakes up (and soon) I fear for the entire stability of the world. If Bush gets in this fall he knows they will not likely win in ‘08. So he will have a “scorched earth” policy over the next four years to set things up so they simply cannot be turned back. This is VERY dangerous and we have to stop it.
It’s time for Kerry to wake up and stop being so polite or I am afraid I will blame him for what results.
I would sincerely like to reply to Mr. Van der Bosch,
How can you speak of us being “not educated” as much as you are? I am sorry that you feel like you are such an elitist and we are uneducated retards. We are voicing our opinions and we have the freedom to do so. You likewise have that freedom, but you could be a little nicer about it. Are you German? I notice that your name is of a foreign origin. How well read are you on the regime of the Third Reich when they blinded the german people to the truth and led them to utter destruction? We are all aware that the people can be swayed in their beliefs as well as you. What we are voicing is that this is what is happening in America now.
I’ve got the coffee on come on over and have a cup when you wake up and smell it. And that is the Rest of the Story. Good Day.
Can eloquence and articulate elucidation put the kybosh on plain speak jibber-jabber politicking? Can a lucid voice in turbulent times evoke change? Can virtue and reason serve as the metaphorical pooper-scooper needed to toss those gleaming cat turds into the compost heap?
I don’t know, but Garrison Keillor has soothed my nerves. It is refreshing to hear a calm and reasonable voice in the midst of our current political morass. There is far too much shouting going on, and too little communicating.
I’m too young to recall the halcyon days of republican benevolence that Mr. Keillor speaks about, but to some extent I doubt their ever having existed.
Being a regular listener to “A Prairie Home Companion” it has always seemed to me that Lake Wobegon is not Mayberry. Sure there’s that close-knit church community thing the two share, but Lake Wobegon has always seemed more real than that. The fictitious town’s foibles never being presented as either Utopian or innately correct. In the case of Griffith’s Mayberry it was exactly the opposite. There, even chronic alcoholism is presented as a quaint and harmless affectation.
Sure Mayberry is fiction, but it just may serve as a window into the collective psyche of early sixties conservativism. And the view is conveniently devoid of minorities, social strife or boys coming home in body bags. As best as I can recall at least. There may not have been racism, but there was also no one to direct that racism toward.
Bush and his cronies are clearly a breed apart for the passive conservatives of yesteryear. But he must be the evolutionary product of their philosophies. Though there is little that is “conservative” about Bush, it seems to me that he just may represent the long buried Id of the Republican Party.
Kudos to Garrison Keillor for giving our political selves a little fresh air to breath, absorb. He’s right about what he said about angry people. Unfortunately, when I look around, angry people are all I see.
Not all republicans are racists and bigots.
However, proud racists and bigots are republicans.
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