03 22 01

HEY, LAURA - GET OUT OF TIPPER'S HOUSE


In a few hours, I'll be heading out, armed with my trusty sign and my righteous anger, to protest Laura Bush as she visits an elementary school and a college here in the Los Angeles area. It's an opportunity too good to resist, especially since Shrub himself isn't likely to "dip his toe" into California any time soon.

Some people expressed reservations over the idea of protesting Mrs. Shrub, and I'll admit that I myself had a few reservations at first - is it "fair play" to protest Mrs. Shrub, or is it over-stepping some invisible line between what's justified and what isn't? It's certain that the right-wingers, if they get wind of the protests (the media isn't likely to give us any attention - they never do), will denounce us as being mean-spirited creeps for trying to upset poor little Laura. No doubt they'll use it as an excuse to begin ranting about "family values" and "decency".

But here's the thing - Laura Bush agreed to come here, knowing what her husband has done. Laura Bush stands up next to her husband with smiles of approval for him. Since she has not spoken out against her husband's dishonesty and criminal acts, then it stands to reason that she supports them. I won't give Laura a free pass, because to do so would be to either a) imply that women should always "stand by their man" no matter what crimes have been committed or b) imply that Laura is too stupid to realize what her husband has done. The first would insult women in general; the second would insult Mrs. Shrub directly.

I don't believe that Laura Bush is a stupid woman, despite her rather vacuous appearance. She knows full well that her husband was not elected by the people, and that he has no right to pursue his dangerous agenda. She is quite aware of the fact that she has usurped the rightful position of Tipper Gore. Therefore, she must approve of - or at the very least, accept - what he has done. And by condoning Shrub's actions, she becomes responsible for them as well.

Further, Laura has stated publicly that she is opposed to the idea of overturning Roe vs. Wade, yet has sat quietly as Shrub and his cronies begin the initial stages of accomplishing just that. The message is clear - women are allowed to have their own opinions, but should not attempt to sway their male counterparts. I suspect that Mrs. Shrub has a copy of "The Surrendered Wife" tucked away in a drawer.

The reason for Laura's visit to California is clear - the Shrubs are hoping to win over Californians by showing us the "softer side of the coup". After all, who could object to the presence of a demure doormat like Mrs. Shrub?

Well, me, for starters.

Laura's visit is as sneaky as it is distasteful. GW is obviously too much of a lily-livered coward to come to California himself...though the Karl Rove machine does an admirable job of keeping the press in line and not allowing the full truth of the people's anger to be broadcast, there's a good chance that Shrub would be met with hundreds (maybe more) of protestors, and that many people are a little hard to ignore. And we know that Shrub doesn't like to see the faces of his enemies...remember how his limo doubled its speed as he passed protestors at the Inaugural Protest? Obviously, he lacks the spine to confront us himself, and in true coward fashion, he's sending his wife to do it for him.

The visit to the elementary school is particularly distasteful to me - not only do the right-wing propagandists expend considerable effort to convince the general public that the Shrubs are worthy of support, now they're going after our children as well.

So back to my original question: is it "fair" to protest Mrs. Shrub's appearances? You bet it is. The right-wingers may try to draw on outmoded notions of chivalry to paint us as mean-spirited; let them. They proved themselves that chivalry is indisputably dead when they began their attacks on Hillary years ago, and they will only expose their own hypocrisy if they dare to complain.

Edmund Burke wrote, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing." If we adopt a hands-off policy toward Laura Bush, then we're implying that she's done nothing wrong. We're implying that it's all right for her to support her husband's actions and serve as his cushion against public disapproval. Our country is spiraling downward so fast that at times it takes my breath away...and we can't afford to let a day go by without doing something to combat it. So I'm going to do my patriotic duty and let Mrs. Shrub know that we are still angry, we're not "getting over it", and she'd better get used to it.


~Rose

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