Censorship in the name of bushpraise
Sara DeHart (page 24)
December 14, 2001


Has much of the media adopted the position that Bush must be praised or it does not get into print? Numerous print journalists begin or end columns with references to Bush as a "successful wartime president." This one-voice media seems attuned to the prevailing administration view that one can only speak praise-of-bush or be labeled traitor.

What is the fate of the voice of dissent in the United States? According to John Ashcroft's statements in his recent Senate hearings, those who hold opposing points of view about the current administration's attacks on the Constitution and the Bill of Rights are guilty of treason. I remind all who choose to listen that Fascism is defined as, "A system of government marked by centralization of authority under a dictator, stringent socioeconomic controls, suppression of the opposition through terror and censorship, and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism." Does the current administration, with it's long arm of the "justice" Department meet these criteria? Lets review the evidence. First there was the bloodless coup d'etat by the U.S. Supreme Court selecting Bush as the 43rd president. Then there was Bush's poorly constructed executive order for secret tribunals that does not limit this mode of action to terrorists; with the current wording anyone or any group could be targeted, tried and executed without legal recourse. Again, by executive order, with no input from Congress, the Bill of Rights was shredded, first for one group, but how long will it be before other groups are targeted?

Let us compare the actions of Bush and Attorney General John Ashcroft with the steps that Hitler took in Germany in 1934 to solidify his power as he turned a democratic republic into a fascist state. Hitler established secret tribunals; Bush established secret tribunals. Hitler owned the news media (all voices were favorable or were destroyed), Bush&co own the U.S. news media through a small group of conglomerates who dictate bushpraise or are not heard. Hitler propagandized, Bush&Co propagandize. Dissent was not tolerated in Germany (unpatriotic), dissent is no longer tolerated in the United States (unpatriotic and now labeled treasonous). I pray that we have a country left when he is finished. But then, as Bush commented to his budget director after September 11, "lucky me, I hit the trifecta." His triple crown horse race win could well mean the loss of Social Security for our next wave of retirees, a budget deficit that will take generations to recover from, and incidentally, the loss of American democracy. A successful wartime president. Not!


Sara S. DeHart, Concerned Citizen
Democracy Activist

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