The New Patriotism under President Bush

by JAmes Araby Sunday, Oct. 07, 2001 at 2:52 AM
Slimmy18@aol.com 562-856-8754

The President has used the time of crisis as an oppurtunity to to try and push his right-wing agenda through congress. A lot of issues he was challenged on earlier in his administration (fast track approval of trade agreements, higher tax cuts)now has gained some steam because of the calls of patriotism. We all know where this could lead

Since the attacks on September 11th George Bush has gained immense support from the American public. FEars of another terrorist attack along with the calls for revenge have given Mr. Bush unprecendented leeway in making decisions that will affect this country for the next few years. What the president has done with the newfound support and rush of patriotism sweeping the country is try and use it to his greatest advantage. One example is, he called for congress to approve the fast track legislation, which would give the president unsurpassed power when approving trade agreements. This would then eliminate any possible means of stopping the supposed "fair trade" agreements and would be a major setback to any efforts to slow down globalization. By using his calls of the patriotic duty of America to reinvigorate the economy of the world, Bush hopes to gain the support of the American people and pressure congress to pass this legislation. Bush has also called for Americans to give up some of their civil liberties in order to better protect themselves from terrorists. I can recall another time in history when this call came out to give up some liberty so we could protect oursleves from the communist threat. The age of McCarthyism was an age of unprecendented attack on AMerican citizens and we should not forget the mistakes made in the past. Mr. Bush seems to realize he has a closing window of oppurtunity and knows this support will not last forever. By using the words mission, patriotic duty, and American interests, he hopes to rally the United States around his cause. Let us hope that Americans realize that Mr. Bush is not being Patriotic for America's sake but for the sake of his interests and his party.

Original: The New Patriotism under President Bush