By Steve Charing
Our nation was born out of the American Revolution. We did just fine plowing through the Industrial Revolution. We partied through the Sexual Revolution. Heck, we even survived (barely) the Reagan Revolution. But as the fortunes of this country sink lower than the approval ratings of an incompetent president and his corrupt cabal, what we need is a new revolution.
Let’s call it the Freedom Revolution of 2006—because we want our government to be free from the corporate influence, especially Big Oil and Halliburton, powerful lobbyists, and religious extremists (think Supreme Court nominations) who have corrupted and own many of our Republican officials including the President. And we want to restore our Freedom of Speech from those who prefer to silence critics and call them traitors, or in the case of the outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame, compromise our national security for the sake of revenge.
This is the year we can make headway in ridding ourselves of the baneful politicians that have contaminated our nation. All members of the House of Representatives, one-third of the Senate and the Governors of Maryland and other states are up for re-election, not to mention all members of Maryland’s House of Delegates and Senate.
To succeed, like any revolution, we need to be bold, take no prisoners and set out a course which will lead us from this horror of a government that is being controlled by religious extremists, powerful corporations and freedom-hating, self-described patriots.
President Bush and his record will be the fulcrum of this revolution because it is his policies and presidency that has pulled our nation down into the economic, environmental, international and social swamp that it is in.
He has provoked the revolution. We need to fight it. Bush cannot be up for re-election, but most of his GOP cronies who are complicit in his dastardly performance are.
It’s pointless to rehash the endless list of vile policies, decisions and indecisions that this presidency has wrought upon us with the help of his rubber-stamping power-at-all cost Party. This revolution that I’m proposing, through the electoral process, hopefully will extricate this nation from the incompetents that have caused our pain here and abroad.
The key is making sure every Republican candidate at all levels who stood by Bush in the wake of the catastrophic war in Iraq, the raping of the environment, the ill-advised tax cuts for the wealthy, the cavalier response to Katrina, the coziness with Big Oil (recall that oil company executives were suspiciously not required to testify under oath to a Congressional committee), the CIA leak, etc., etc., etc, pay for those misdeeds.
We should also oppose those candidates who, with Bush as the main draw, have raised money for their own campaigns. That would include such senators as Jon Kyle (R-AZ) and the reprehensible Rick Santorum (R-PA). You can throw in virulently anti-gay Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO). Then there is Senate wannabe Lt. Gov. Michael Steele and Maryland’s own Governor Robert Ehrlich as well.
For Michael Steele, a recent (disappointing) fundraising visit from Bush ought to prove devastating. Steele can try to distance himself from the failed policies of this administration, but by using the appearance of the president to raise money (which he gladly accepted), he is in bed with him, figuratively speaking.
With recent polls showing Bush’s approval rating in Maryland at an all-time low 32 percent, Steele is banking on a short memory of this event and the attendant photos. As part of the strategy for this 2006 revolution, the Democrats must use the photos to link Steele and Bush in their commercials. Governor Ehrlich is also aligned tightly with Bush, and his opponents should remind the voters of that fact.
With a spate of ethical scandals that are expected to make GOP congressmen drop like leaves in 2006 and the possible expanding fallout from the CIA leak, this is indeed the time to cash in. Echoing Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean’s line, all political advertisements must always rail against the "culture of corruption."
Moreover, the candidates running against Republican Bush hacks should, if nothing else, show the footage of Bush’s door malfunction in China with the caption, "No matter where he is, President Bush has no exit strategy." This is also part of the Freedom Revolution of 2006. Time to get nasty—just like Republicans.
The renewed onslaught on same-sex marriage will emerge in 2006. Several states (possibly Maryland) will try to change their constitutions to ban such marriages. We will constantly be bombarded with loose rhetoric about how the sanctity of marriage must be preserved, how we must protect traditional marriage, that the gay agenda is an assault on marriage and God and everything else. Incredibly, on this issue our country is to the right of South Africa, of all places.
Remember, this is a revolution and instead of letting our opponents dictate the terms, we must finally fight back with a vengeance. Not only should we defend our turf on the basis of equality—a principal inherent to the founding of our country—but also we should vehemently argue that heterosexuals—not lgbt people or "activist judges"— undermine marriage.
Are gays responsible for the high divorce rates? Are they to blame for babies born out of wedlock? Do gays encourage straights to have sex outside of marriage? Do they foster domestic abuse among heterosexual married couples? Do gays create poverty so that heterosexuals find marriage an economic burden? These are the questions we and our allies must raise.
They falsely and maliciously argue the quest for same-sex marriage is a threat to the so-called sanctity of the institution. And it doesn’t stop there. These idiots go so far as blaming gays for abortions, not to mention hurricanes and terrorist attacks. Really. Time to fight back, folks!
The Freedom Revolution of 2006 must not depend solely on the self-destruction of the corrupt GOP office holders who will be dealing with indictments in 2006 and those who have close ties to President Bush. The revolution also requires us to articulate a vision and a plan to enact it.
The late John Lennon wrote: "You say you want a revolution/Well you know/We all want to change the world…"
The Freedom Revolution of 2006 is not aimed at changing the world—just America. And with honest, competent people in office to lead the state and nation, we may never need another revolution.
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