Bush's flag-waving cows progressives
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Source: Captimes
Bush's flag-waving cows progressives
By John Nichols
November 6, 2001
WASHINGTON - It is no secret that George W. Bush's current poll
ratings - transient though they may be - have caused many
Washington progressives to lose their nerve. As a ridiculously
complacent broadcast media tries to fit every D.C. dispute into
an "America Strikes Back" frame, too many labor, environmental
and civil liberties groups since the Sept. 11 attacks have chosen
the path of least resistance.
The kid gloves approach has allowed the Bush administration and
its congressional allies to roll over opposition and common sense
on the $15 billion airline CEO bailout, federalization of airport
security, diminution of civil liberties with the "anti-
terrorism" bill and a host of other critical matters. Confusing
patriotism with complicity, the loyal opposition - in Congress
and out - has proved so loyal on so many issues that it cannot
truly be said to be an opposition.
All of this has Jim Hightower worried. Indeed, says the veteran
activist, Sept. 11 and its aftermath have seen
"a crisis for our democracy."
"Among the people, there is an awakening to the fact that there
is something bigger going on in the world than what we've been
told about," he explained. "But, in Washington, too many members
of Congress and activist groups have been too quiet. They have
let George W. Bush do all the talking."
The Texas populist's home state experience with the Bush family
and its political operatives makes him something of an expert on
how to deal with America's political aristocracy - he earned
election twice as the
Lone Star State's agriculture secretary and was once seen as a
possible contender for the governorship GW
eventually won. To Hightower's view, sitting on the sidelines is
the worst possible response when George W.
Bush is riding high in the polls.
"The American people do not confuse patriotism with conformity.
Yet that's what a lot of our groups are doing," Hightower argued,
referring to reports that mainstream environmental advocacy
groups and other
organizations had tempered their criticism of Bush administration
initiatives in order to avoid appearing
to threaten national unity.
"Too many of our groups have said, 'sit down, shut up.' If the
meek ever inherit the earth, these guys are
going to be land barons," Hightower said. "For us to be quiet
now, when our voices are most needed, is to
reject not just our heritage but our responsibility in a
democracy."
Hightower made his remarks at a gathering marking the 30th
anniversary of Public Citizen, the Washington-
based group founded in 1971 by Ralph Nader to advocate for safe
products and workplaces, a healthy environment, clean energy and
corporate responsibility. In recent weeks, as many D.C. groups
have been lying
low, Public Citizen has been loudly challenging Bush
administration initiatives to limit access to information, use
tax policy and government grants to enrich multinational
corporations, and secure "fast
track" negotiating authority to expand free trade.
Hightower expressed pride in the unflinching activism of the
group, one of the few in Washington to which he
has lent his name - as a member of the board of directors. Public
Citizen, he said, "is still doing the
kind of work that helps us take our democracy back from the
greedheads and the boneheads."
As Public Citizen backers celebrated three decades of activism
over the weekend, Nader noted that the group
faces more challenges now than perhaps at any time in its
history. "Citizen groups have, increasingly, been
shut out in this town," said Nader, noting that even before the
current crisis, the growing influence of
special interests over Congress and federal agencies, and the
collapse of major media's watchdog role, had
reduced the ability of citizen-based advocacy groups to influence
the process. "It is an extremely inhospitable environment here in
D.C. these days, and we have to think seriously about how to
reinvent ourselves," Nader said.
Reinvention, renewal, that's all fine, countered Hightower. Just
so long as it challenges those in power
- no matter what their political affiliation. "Public Citizen has
always given us the ammunition we need for
agitation in this country," Hightower said.
But, in these troubled times, he added, something more than
traditional activism is needed. "We have been
progressive for a long time," Hightower explained. "Now we've got
to be aggressive."
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