President Bush Wants Your Opinion… Unless You Disagree

Mother Davis reconsiders the meaning of the phrase “protective backing” as she comments,

President Bush is eager to get your advice on Social Security – so long as you’re a Republican who supported the invasion of Iraq.

Bush has been travelling the country “asking advice” on Social Security – by speaking to halls packed with Republican supporters trucked in by local GOP organizations and asking pre-scripted questions to people up on stage with him who have been hand-picked to provide Bush with the exact talking points that he needs to make his standard sales pitch. Bush calls these “town hall meetings” – a strange twist on the original idea that all citizens in a communty could come together to discuss important issues.

Well, at one of these Social Security public meetings, three non-Republicans decided to show up, just to hear what the President had to say. Unfortunately, they never had the chance to find out. They were forcibly thrown out of the meeting before it ever started, by Republican Party official.

Why? The three ejected citizens weren’t causing any disruption. They were just sitting still in their seats, waiting like everyone else. In fact, the three were invited to attend by Republican Congressman Bob Beauprez. The reason they were thrown out is that they had been tracked down and observed to have driven to the meeting in a car with a bumper sticker that read “No More Blood for Oil“.

Apparently, the local Republican Party had been tracking these people, watching them as they came to the meeting. The Republicans in the area hosting the event seem to have set up surveillance stations near the event to identify dissidents and prevent them from participating.

So, at Bush’s Social Security meeting, everything went just as the Republicans had planned. President Bush heard plenty of advice – from a hall full of people who had been screened to ensure that they agreed with the opinions that the President had already formed.

You shouldn’t have to be an opponent of George W. Bush to be concerned about these Republican Party tactics of censoring the opinions heard by the President of the United States. Anyone who is concerned about the health of the American nation ought to want America’s leaders to hear a variety of good ideas, and promote an open public debate. When we have a President who proudly admits that he doesn’t even read the morning newspaper, it is especially important that the full range of the American people have the ability to participate meaningly in public policy discussions organized by the White House.

Yet, Republicans seem to approve of their political party’s efforts to prevent anyone but strict party loyalists from participating in these fraudulent “town meetings”. The White House Press Secretary, Scott McClellan, has issued a statement in which he essentially argues that the incident was no big deal. “There is plenty of opportunity outside of the event to express their views,” McClellan said.

The obvious problem is that people from the Bush White House do not solicit citizens’ views outside of these fake town hall meetings. The President has constructed an airtight bubble of silence around him and his closest advisors. Over time, the lack of fresh air has resulted in an extreme atrophy of an ability to recognize significant dissent when it exists.

American progressives are faced with two choices. Either they can try to assimilate, and gain a voice in the public debate by hiding their opposition to Republican policies, or they can work outside the rigged system of Republican pre-scripted public meetings and speak independently, with their own true voices. The progressives who were pushed out the door by Bush’s henchmen were trying to do both, but it’s become quite clear that the Republicans have no intention of allowing anyone but their own followers to have a voice in government. Similar incidents of censorship and expulsion are reported at meetings wherever George W. Bush and top White House staff members go.

For those of you who are ready to speak with an authentic progressive voice, we have just the thing for you: The largest collection of progressive bumper stickers found anywhere online. Of course, if you dare to put a progressive bumper sticker on your car, you’ll never gain admittance to any of Bush’s public meetings. Mourn that loss of civic participation, and then move on. Political pageantry has never been a liberal game.

Getting sticky,
Mother Davis