Bush's Phony Compassion

During his presidential campaign, George W. Bush endlessly repeated a number of sound bites to assure us that he was not the kind of politician most people suspected him to be. Speech after speech, interview after interview, Bush promised us ad nauseam that, if elected, he would be "a uniter, not a divider." He stated that he was committed to "healing the nation." Never mind that the man anti-death penalty activists have nicknamed "the Texecutioner" killed 40 people last year as Governor of Texas, the highest number put to death in one state in a single year in all of United States history. Or that one of six Texans lives in poverty. Or that "Dubya" is proudly anti-choice. Forget all that. Bush claimed he was a "compassionate conservative."

One stolen election and a motley crew of right-wing cabinet picks later, the sum of Dubya's promises has proven to be worth less than a handful of Texan dirt.

Exactly how much "compassion" did Bush and his GOP buddies show to thousands of disenfranchised African-American voters in Florida? From police harassment to under-equipped polling stations in poor neighborhoods to the 187,000 votes (half from primarily Black precincts) thrown out by Florida election officials, the echoes of Jim Crow resounded unmistakably from the Sunshine State.

And how much of a "uniter" is Bush for nominating a vicious bigot like John Ashcroft for Attorney General? This is a man who holds an honorary degree from Bob Jones University and openly praises the Confederacy. Ashcroft is also a sworn enemy of women's rights, particularly the right to choose. He once sponsored a constitutional amendment banning all abortions and--your jaw's gotta drop--many forms of contraception. When voters in Missouri chose a dead man, Governor Mel Carnahan, over Ashcroft in a senate race, they chose well. Ashcroft has no place in Missouri or in D.C. He belongs in The Twilight Zone.

Nor is Ashcroft alone; in fact, he's in good company. The Bush team is stacked with multi-millionaires and right-wing zealots. The nomination of Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson to head up Health and Human Services is typical. Thompson, another anti-abortion fanatic, has spent years gutting public health and human services in his home state. Thompson's Wisconsin Works scheme provides the best example of what a catastrophe so-called "welfare reform" is. It has kicked thousands of people off welfare and into the streets, driving up homelessness and hunger in Wisconsin's cities.

Bush's nomination of Gale Norton for the position of interior secretary demonstrates again just what kind of people he's interested in "uniting." Norton, a protégé of Reagan henchman James Watt, is known for her large following among rich ranchers and oil company executives. In fact, she has made her career out of uniting such people--so they can divide up public land and exploit it for profit. Norton's biggest achievement as a public servant involved spearheading the misnamed "wise use" group, a fake grassroots movement that employed environmental rhetoric to attack the environment.

General Colin Powell is among the most popular and supposedly moderate of Bush's picks. But the likely future Secretary of State ran one of the bloodiest wars of the last decade. The Gulf War of 1991 killed roughly 200,000 Iraqis, and continues today in the form of economic sanctions, which according to the United Nations take the lives of hundreds of Iraqi kids every month. This is a policy Powell wants to "re-energize."

So much for compassion. Republicans figure it's pay-back time, and they're ready to go on the attack. Shamefully, the primary response Democrats have mustered so far is silence and a few meek words about "bi-partisanship" and "giving Bush a chance." Not a single Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee has yet stepped forward to denounce John Ashcroft's nomination. This is not a rational response to a Bush administration already gearing up to turn back the clock--on women's rights, civil rights, environmental protection, and every other issue.

A massive, angry opposition to Bush already exists. The official inauguration ceremonies this Saturday in Washington, D.C. will bring to power an illegitimate President whose right-wing agenda the majority of Americans rejected in the election. The key is that we can't leave it up to politicians (or conservative Supreme Court justices!) to stop Bush. We need to stop him. And we need to build a movement that fights for our priorities. That is why tens of thousands of us will be showing up in D.C. this Saturday with a loud, angry response to Dubya's phony "compassion." Our message is simple: we won't go back.