Back when George W. Bush was president and Dick (Dark Lord) Cheney was vice president, we liberals talked and talked and talked about the administration’s destruction of civil liberties. Specifically, we delved into wire tapping, and how the government was morphing into this big brother entity that felt—in the name of stopping terrorism—it had the right to listen to our calls, monitor our computers, sort through our mail, etc … etc.
It infuriated us, and at the same time created barely a ripple among conservatives, who seemed to chalk it up to wisdom and common sense. I vividly recall Sean Hannity, Fox New’s bitch boy of love, singing the administration’s praises for securing an insecure world. “Thanks to the president …”
Barack Obama is now president, and this morning I woke to the New York Times’ headline, U.S. CONFIRMS GATHERING OF WEB DATA OVERSEAS. The ensuing story was chilling—for years, the government has been collecting information on foreigners by using companies like Google, Facebook and Apple. Government officials also acknowledged a seven-year effort to “sweep up records of telephone calls inside the United States.”
Predictably, conservatives are up in arms. The president is breaking the law. The president has gone too far. Sean Hannity, Fox New’s bitch boy of love, will most certainly tee off on today’s show—this president can’t be trusted; he’s not one of us; he says one thing and does another; he’s after you; first it was the Tea Party, now …
Liberals, meanwhile, will sorta shrug. We’ll blame Bush—”Hey, it started with him.” We’ll excuse the actions as important to our safety. We’ll secretly think, “Hey, no one is tapping my phone.” We’ll think of all the things Obama has done that we like—gay marriage, health care reform. We’ll excuse him because, well, that’s what we do.
And this, dear readers, is a major problem with our nation in 2013. We’ll so incredibly political that we’re unaware how political we’ve become. Our motives are no longer pro-American, but pro-whatever party we support. It’s little and petty and sad, and makes me want to vomit. Or cry.
Personally, I’m furious with the Obama Administration. I expect better; I aim higher; I want this nation to rise above. We were promised a departure from Bush’s ways—and yet we’re right there with George and Dick. We’re not different.
We’re no better.
