It started with Reagan

It would be easy to romanticize today's events by saying it is the saddest national political day of my life, but that would be myopic of me. The truth is, this kind of disgust and sadness has occurred three other times: the inaugurations of 1980, 1984, and 2000. 2000 was dramatic because it was clear to many of us that the election was not fairly won. Now that I have studied the Ohio results, I believe that the 2004 was not fairly won, either (though I was certainly prepared--given the ignorance of many Americans, the tone of the day, and the complete ineptness of John Kerry--to believe that it was).

1980 was the beginning of the "Rule by Ignorance and Testosterone" era in America. We took a break from it with George H.W. Bush (please don't consider this an endorsement of Bush's policies) and with Bill Clinton, but now we are back, with another president who doesn't believe in thinking or reading, but who prefers to be seen as the guy in jeans clearing brush at the ranch. True, Reagan had more poise, and even a level of sophistication, but it is essentially the same package: Appeal to the poor put-upon white people, especially the white men--especially the rich white men--and push back the nasty civil rights workers, feminists, gay rights activists, environmentalists, and church-state separation advocates.

By appealing to the fear of a common enemy, the "terrorists," the Bush administration has successfully sent the message that all those other things we used to think were important--racial harmony, fighting poverty, creating jobs, gender equality, clean air and water--can now be placed on the back burner (and they mean forever) so that America can kick some foreign ass and be manly again.

Unfortunately, people love this stuff. We are a violent nation, and the Bush administration knows it, and has exploited it.

Here is the really bad part: Reagan--a non-intelllectual, racist, homophobic, anti-feminist, dangerous imperialist--is a national hero. America reveres Reagan as a god. So don't go looking for America to wake up and see Bush as the ignorant, immoral, hypocritical promoter of fascism that he is. America loves this stuff.