Bush
won election through voter deception
The
results are in and it's official. There
was no stolen or contested election. President
George W. Bush won outright, carrying
the popular vote by four million. As Bush
opponents lick their wounds, many are
starting to ask how Senator John F. Kerry
lost the election. The Iraq war has been
a disaster, and Bush's elitist domestic
agenda is unpopular with voters.
Many
in the Kerry camp overestimated the political
literacy of the American populace. A lack
of understanding about Bush's core policies
led many to vote in Bush's favor. The
Bush campaign systematically lied and
misrepresented their own positions, which
has led their supporters to widespread
ignorance on the most important issues
facing the country today.
Droves
of Americans voted last Tuesday, believing
that by re-installing Bush, God's own
man would continue to sit in the oval
office. The most commonly cited reason
for a Bush vote was "moral values."
Bush is widely perceived as an upright
and moral leader, walking in the footsteps
of Jesus Christ. It's no surprise that
Republicans have to avoid the issues in
order to win elections.
The
centerpiece of the Republican economic
platform will surely be the privatization
of social security. The plan is to give
about one-sixth of withholdings to a select
group of funds managers, and subject the
savings of working Americans to the uncertainties
of Wall Street. This will take money out
of a system that will desperately need
it as the baby-boomers begin to retire.
Social security is popular, it works and
can be strengthened to meet demographic
challenges. Bush supporters are unaware
that the president's policies will undermine
the safety net for senior citizens.
There
is also a widespread misconception that
Bush is fighting terrorism, and that Iraq
is a front in the so-called "War
on Terror." Terrorism wouldn't be
an issue today had the Bush administration
acted to prevent the Sept. 11 attacks.
Americans have been led to believe that
intelligence failures were the culprit.
This is untrue considering that the FBI
had been tracking several of the hijackers,
and foreign intelligence agencies had
given the U.S. repeated and specific warnings
of the attacks. What would be a serious
liability for Bush, in a more reasonable
intellectual climate, is his greatest
asset.
The
Program on International Policy Attitudes
released a poll which demonstrated the
gap between the beliefs of Bush supporters,
and reality. As expected, that gap is
enormous and is largely responsible for
Bush's second term. For example, 75 percent
of Bush supporters believe that Iraq was
providing substantial support to Al Qaeda,
and 72 percent believed that Iraq had
actual WMDs. The majority believes, incorrectly,
that Bush supports international treaties
banning the use of land mines and nuclear
weapons testing.
Bush
won this election because of deception.
The majority of those that voted for him
hold erroneous beliefs about his positions,
and reality. With the assistance of a
servile media, Bush can look Americans
in the eye and tell us that allowing an
easily preventable terrorist attack to
occur, shows that he's fighting terror.
Bush can amplify the oppressive imperial
behavior that leads to terrorism, and
say that he is working to prevent terrorism.
Freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength
and war is peace in Bush's parallel universe.
Sterling
Harris is a history major at CSULB.
