Monday, February 23, 2004

Déja Vu, All Over Again...

1992- In a re-election campaign and facing declining popularity due to the aftermath of a war against Iraq that didn’t quite go according to plan, and an economy that frankly, sucked, despite tax cuts for the wealthy that were supposed to create jobs, but didn’t - President George H.W. Bush tried to divert the public’s attention with a call for a Constitutional amendment. This was something that had no business being written into the Constitution, and was a blatant attempt to deliver a sop to his far-right constituency. An amendment to ban flag-burning as a form of protest. As if you could somehow protect the country by stopping people from burning a piece of cloth. People yelled and screamed and pontificated, but in the end, the amendment went nowhere and Bush lost the election.

2004- In a re-election campaign and facing declining popularity due to the aftermath of a war against Iraq that didn’t quite go according to plan, and an economy that frankly, sucked, despite tax cuts for the wealthy that were supposed to create jobs, but didn’t - President George W. Bush tried to divert the public’s attention with a call for a Constitutional amendment. This was something that had no business being written into the Constitution, and was a blatant attempt to deliver a sop to his far-right constituency. An amendment to ban marriages between persons of the same sex. As if you could somehow protect marriage by stopping people who love each other from getting married. People yelled and screamed and pontificated, but in the end…

- Bob Woods