George W. Bush isn’t really much of a leader, is he? I mean, when people were completely freaked out over the attacks of September 11, 2001, George W. Bush stood on top of his podium and yelled “Oooga Booga,” and everybody screamed in response, so I guess that’s leadership of a sort, but as soon as people calmed down they started ignoring him. You could walk down Pennsylvania Avenue and mention George W. Bush’s name, and people would say, “Who?” Then, after a few moments they would say, “Oh, right. Him.” Most people just want to forget George W. Bush ever existed.
One exception to this rule is John McCain, who took special pains yesterday to remind the Republican Party elite that if he were elected president, he at least would follow the path of George W. Bush. John McCain spoke to a room of conservatives and assured them that George W. Bush’s values are John McCain’s values too. Then he told them that he would be sure to follow George W. Bush’s standards when it comes to the Supreme Court:
“Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito meet those standards in every respect. They would serve as the model for my own nominees if that responsibility falls to me.”
If John McCain gets the chance to appoint another John Roberts or Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court, we’ll have Christian mandates in public schools and the revocation of women’s reproductive freedom. Torture will come out of the shadows as an instrument of American interrogation. Workplace discrimination against women — which the court just made effectively legal — will be further empowered, and discrimination against people who have an unpopular shade of skin or sexual preference will be expanded. Americans who don’t speak English will be denied the public services their tax dollars pay for. Constant surveillance of American citizens who have done nothing wrong will mar our society. And a stacked Supreme Court will let President McCain do whatever he wants, even if it openly violates the law.
Is that what you want? Do you want the George W. Bush vision of America to be not just extended but set in stone for another entire generation? Then by all means vote for John McCain. If you care about constitutional freedom, individual liberty and equal opportunity, by all means don’t.
You know what’s at stake. John McCain’s gone ahead and warned you. Election Day is November 4, 2008. Don’t screw it up.
