Views > February 2, 2004

Fear Monger in Chief

By Joel Bleifuss

In his State of the Union address, President George W. Bush played to people’s fears to rally the nation.

Fears Americans have for their physical safety: “The terrorists continue to plot against America and the civilized world. … training and plotting in other nations and drawing up more ambitious plans.”

Fears about economic security: “The tax reductions [Congress] passed are set to expire. … The unfair tax on marriage will go back up. … Millions of families will be charged $300 more in federal taxes for every child. … Americans face a tax increase.”

Fears parents have for their children: “Each year, about 3 million teenagers contract sexually transmitted diseases that can harm them or kill them.”

And fears of gays: “Activist judges … have been redefining marriage. … Our nation must defend the sanctity of marriage.”

Afraid of appearing partisan, the media criticized only Bush’s delivery—not the substance of his speech. But in failing to call a spade a spade, a fool a fool, a dangerous demagogue a threat to America’s future, the mainstream media left it up to others who command an audience to do so.

Receiving her award for Angels in America at the Golden Globes ceremony, Meryl Streep admonished the president, “I don’t think that our two biggest problems in America are that too many people want to commit their lives together ’til death do us part and steroids in sports.”

The Academy Awards will create another opportunity for the entertainers who provide the “roses” that enrich our lives to remind our leaders that people need “bread” to make life livable.

Last year, Los Angeles-based Global Vision for Peace convinced more than 30 film artists—including Streep, Adrien Brody, Daniel Day-Lewis, Martin Scorsese, Susan Sarandon, Anjelica Huston and Brendan Fraser—to wear a Dove of Peace pin. This year, Global Vision for Peace has partnered with the United Nations, launching Artists for the U.N.

The group’s first initiative, endorsed by five Nobel Peace Prize laureates, is to organize this year’s Oscar luminaries to put on the same pin to promote world peace and the United Nations.

Given the dearth of honest critiques, Hollywood progressives have a rare opportunity to showcase real U.S. values to 37 million Americans and millions more in 100-plus countries. Yes, they run the danger of being partisan. To be partisan is to be criticized. Partisanship is a dirty word. It indicates that there is conflict, that not everyone is happy, that rebellion has a voice. That Bush’s State of the Union is not the state of our union.

Recall last year’s Academy Awards, when ceremony director Louis Horvitz, yelling “Music! Music!,” had the orchestra drown out Michael Moore. Moore used his Oscar acceptance speech to tell the shameful truth about our nation’s president.

We live in a time when we have fictitious election results that elect a fictitious president. We live in a time where we have a man sending us to war for fictitious reasons.

This year, Bush said to all of us, we “must work together to counter the negative influence of the culture.” To which we respond: All of us must work together to counter the negative influence of Bush.

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• Reader Comments

  Well said!! Thank you Joel.
  

  Posted by Ed Mellon on Feb 2, 2004 at 2:40 PM

  I do not know why the American people are allowing, this would be king bush, to be president. This is a corrupt regime and we are being smacked in the face with it over and over. Why haven’t we started the impeachment process? He lied to us about Iraq and so many of us knew it was a lie. We also knew bush planned a war on Iraq before 911. Until the majority of the American people say no to bush, he will keep up his atrocities. It is our duty to impeach bush and try him and his friends for treaon.

  Posted by Linda on Feb 2, 2004 at 3:07 PM

  I have a question to all of those that said Bush lied.
  Did Bill Clinton lie about WMD in ‘98?
  I don’t think either of them lied, it was a bad intelligence report. Now we’re getting an investigation, is that good enough?

  Posted by brad on Feb 3, 2004 at 9:59 AM

  This in response to Brad. You are going to trust an investigation of lies put forth by the teller of the lies? I’m not!!

  Posted by Pat on Feb 3, 2004 at 10:24 AM

  Pat- You conspiracy guys are great!

  Oh, and don’t forget that Russia, England, France, Germany, and Israel ALL said that Saddam had WMD’s. Even the Democrats said he had them. Tell me one person who said it was a lie before the war. Even that lunatic Dean said he was a threat who had weapons and had to go - before he ran for Prez.

  When Democrats like Torrecelli chop the CIA up with moronic liberal views (and cut their funding) you aren’t going to get good intelligence. Clinton said that Saddam had to be stopped as he was too great of a threat to his own 24 million Iraqis (plastic shredders, rape rooms, mass graves, chemical attacks) and to the world (Kuwait, Iran, harboring terrorists, launching missiles into Israel).

  By the way, do you understand what an “independent” investigation is? Do you think that means that Bush is in charge of the investigation? 

  Posted by Ty on Feb 3, 2004 at 11:05 AM

• extended discussion >>>Continued...

  Discussions with more than 5 comments are continued on our special discussion page to encourage continuity and ease of use. There are currently 22 posts.

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