New Tribune Poll: 45% of Utahns Oppose Democracy
According to previous Salt Lake Tribune polls a majority of Utahns ardently support President Bush and his claims about bringing freedom and democracy to Iraq. It appears however, that they do not support democratic values, at least, here at home. >A poll released Monday by the Salt Lake Tribune showed that a whopping 45% of the 645 Utahns polled feel the protest of Bush’s Iraq War and other policies hurts the United States and helps enemies. The inherent irony of this type of thinking is apparently lost on this bunch of Bushites. That is to say, 45% feel that the principle of free speech, long established as the cornerstone of democratic society, takes a back seat to the authoritarian principle of deference to power. For example, Salt Lake County Republican Party Chairperson, James Evans was quoted in the Tribune article as saying, “We feel it appropriate to send the proper message to the country with respect to Utah residents . . . ” Statements such as this reinforce the government’s dominance over what the Americans think and say publicly. It also lends credence to the false notion that free speech and expressions of dissent do harm to our country and need to be kept out of sight
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Similarly, Kirk Jowers blasted Rocky Anderson’s public protest of the President, “He just has an obligation as a host and mayor of this city, and he’s not living up to it . . .â€
Jowers claims to be a scholar of Political Science as does the University of Utah where he is Director of the Hinckley Institute of Politics. People of influence, such as Jowers, that tell Utahns they are duty bound to keep quiet and show reverence to authority figures are in fact, the ones that aid our enemies. It is not the dissidents. The S.L. Tribune article of course, conceals the true motives of the statements Mr. Jowers makes. According to Caplin & Drysdale where Jowers is an attorney, “Mr. Jowers has advised more than 30 Republican congressional candidates and provided legal counsel to George W. Bush’s 2000 presidential campaign on Electoral College issues and in Broward County, Florida during the 2000 election recount controversy.â€
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Mr. Jowers statements belie the fact that the only reason the United States exists at all is because protesters refused to respect the authority of a King that did not represent them. He seems content to act in the service of the King. Even Tribune reporter, Heather May takes the authoritarian perspective when she writes, “the mayor, already disliked by Utahns outside Salt Lake City, inflames those passions by taking the unusual step of protesting a president.â€Â At this point the hypocrisy of these statements becomes painfully obvious.
The United States under the management of George W. Bush & Co. claims to be engaged in a worldwide war to stop, “Islamofacism†and “spread democracy throughout the Middle East.†How absurd it is that he and his supporters throughout the country do not actually believe in what they are sending others to kill and die for. For instance, Condoleezza Rice’s State Department operates an official website for promoting “democratic values†to other nations and people. The web site is designed to educate people of the world in the basic principles of a liberal democracy and our American form of government. What it says is quite instructive and apparently needs more application here at home than abroad.
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Utah may not be a developing nation in the “3rd World†but appears to be in greater need of education about the basics of a democratic society than foreigners are. So for a little fun let’s review the U.S. State Department’s description of “Principles of Democracy – Freedom of Speech.†Now bear with me for a moment as we recite some elementary principle of free speech and how it relates to creating and safeguarding (not harming!) democratic societies.
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-           “Democracy depends on a literate, knowledgeable citizenry whose access to information enables it to participate as fully as possible in the public life of society and to criticize unwise or tyrannical government officials or policies. Citizens and their elected representatives recognize that democracy depends upon the widest possible access to uncensored ideas, data, and opinions.â€
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-           “Freedom of Speech and expression, especially about political and other public issues, is the lifeblood of any democracy. Democratic governments do not control the content of most written and verbal speech. Thus democracies are usually filled with many voices expressing different or even contrary ideas and opinions.â€
-          “For a free people to govern themselves, they must be free to express themselves – openly, publicly and repeatedly; in speech and writing.
-          “The principle of free speech should be protected by a government’s constitution, preventing the legislative or executive branches of the government from imposing censorship.â€
-           “Protests serve as a testing ground for any democracy – thus the right to peaceful assembly is essential and plays an integral part in facilitating the use of free speech. A civil society allows spirited debate among those in deep disagreement over the issues.â€
Jowers, Jowers, Jowers? Hatch, Hatch, Hatch? Rumsfeld, Rumsfeld, Rumsfeld? Guess they were not present this day in American Civics 101. Must’ve been too busy starting wars to, “defend America and promote freedom and democracy.†Or was it, “defend the American People from grave threats to their security?†No, maybe it was to own every last drop of oil on the face of the planet? …nah! So again, the question remains, why are the Bushites in Utah throwing tantrums about supporting our troops and commander in chief to spread freedom and democracy around the globe? Their leaders have already publicly declared that they oppose the fundamental right of free speech, whenever the speech is against them. Free Speech is identified by Condi Rice’s State Department as a basic principle of democracy. So what gives? What is going to satisfy these folks?
Here is my proposal for a compromise solution to this conflict. Let’s allow the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, Islamic Jihad, Hamas and Hezbollah to come and rule Utah in order to bring a quick end to all this disrespect of our ruling elites, like Bush and Cheney. Then we can send Jowers, Evans, Hatch and maybe even Heather May to Afghanistan, Israeli West Bank, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon where they can teach the people how to practice free speech and protest just like Condi’s U.S. State Department says. By the way, please excuse my disrespectful inquiries but perhaps “spreading freedom and democracy†throughout the Middle East will require some practice here at home first.
August 29th, 2006 at 8:54 pm
Hey Nate,
Did you notice in that same paper, same day that 45% of Utahns don’t believe that global warming is scientifically proven? I thought the matching numbers was very telling.
I’d like a conservative to explain to me how protesting a bad president aids the enemy. I think it’s another one of those issues like the one about gay marriage destroying straight marriage — they just talk around the subject and never present any logic or proof of these crazy assertions.
I also enjoy reading conservatives who explain that Mayor Anderson should play a welcoming host and not criticize or protest the president. I think most of us would agree that we wished that more German government underlings had confronted Hitler in a similar way. Do I think Bush is as bad as Hitler? No, I do not — but how corrupt, deceitful and deadly does a leader have to be before it’s okay to call him/her on it?
August 29th, 2006 at 9:13 pm
Just like I have said many times there is a line you can cross where you stop being a war protester and begin to be a revolutionary foot soldier for the enemy. When your actions begin to harm your own country and aid the enemy then you has crossed that line. People like Cindy Sheehan are not war protestors since they have clearly taken sides. Cindy Sheehan did it when she called the very people that killed her son “freedom fightersâ€. She again proved herself to be an enemy of her own country when she openly embraced Hugo Chavez the brutal murderous dictator of Venezuela. Those who truly are anti-war should distance themselves from individuals and groups that seek to end the war by insuring the United State’s defeat.
August 29th, 2006 at 9:18 pm
Kurt Jowers also said (about Rocky’s decision to protest Bush) on Doug Fabrizio’s show, “He needs to put away his narcissism for one day and honor the president. He has forgotten that he is not only an activist, but he is also a mayor.”
Almost in the same breath as he commented on the troubling apathy of college students to be involved in politics saying “they are the worse when it comes to participating in politics.
What’s troubling is that Jowers doesn’t get that he is the very embodiment of the reason not just students, but PEOPLE are so apathetic about politics. Participation in politics means subjecting yourself to a level of criticism from people like Jowers.
Tell us professor Jowers, is there some sort of protocol that comes with public office that supercedes representing one’s constituency (as well as one’s own personal conviction as expressed openly as a candidate) with the full force and effect of ones elected position?
I am disappointed in Kurt Jowers to say the very least. I know for a fact that he hates Bush, and yet he still serves a master, and it is not civic responsibility.
The Hinckley Institute suffers.
August 29th, 2006 at 9:42 pm
You go Nate! I don’t know where you come from, but I love you. You are so right on I think my husband finally got it thanks to your reverse scenario.
We are the Christofacisist, subject to the same uninformed mindless tribal loyalty that brings down every decent civil government.
People! Be suspicious whenever your gov’t attacks a religion. Be especially cautious when it is the US gov’t attacking any religion. The founding fathers are rolling.
God help us find peace and send out the infidels of democracy.
Amen
August 29th, 2006 at 10:28 pm
As distasteful as Chavez is, he is not nearly the “brutal murderous dictator” that Pinochet or Saddam was. Yet our government willingly embraced both of them when they thought was in their interest. If Sheehan proved herself an enemy of our nation in embracing Chavez, what were Nixon and Reagan?
Sheehan’s words do nothing to hurt our troops. What hurts our troops is putting them in the line of fire of insurgents created by the illegal and immoral in which our nation has entangled itself.
August 29th, 2006 at 11:43 pm
Nate hits the nail on the head. Jowers is a tool of the Republican machine that has created the one party dominance we see today with its powerful message control and well-funded power brokering. This machine, lead by Bush, Hatch, et al., is desperately trying to avoid the protesters issue: the wrongful conduct of this President, in Iraq, in the “war on terrror,” a war against a tactic to pursue a strategy of deceiving a large part of the US public about the incompentence of this administration and Congress. It’s a beautiful tautology that the Republicans have going, but it will end. Corruption and incompentence breed more of the same. The loyal opposition (progressives, libertarians, right-thinking conservatives and others) must stay on message and focus on the real issue. The real issue is the deception that this government, the Republican Congress and President Bush, is using against the citizens to hide its incompetence and corruption. The list of valid claims against this government reads like the list of complaints in the Declaration of Independence. Rocky says it better than most. I’m proud he is my major and very pleased that he is helping lead the fight against this outrageous government run by this powerful, anti=democratic Republican machine. Rocky is right. We must debate whenever and wherever necessary the wrongs of this government and demand more from our elected leaders in reforming our “democracy.”
August 30th, 2006 at 11:51 pm
Ken,
I asked “I’d like a conservative to explain to me how protesting a bad president aids the enemy. ”
You did not explain how this aids the enemy. I want to see a logical process here, not something along the lines of, “Santa Claus is real because how else do you explain all the presents under the tree Christmas morning?”
August 31st, 2006 at 6:06 am
I concur and would like to see the statistics and hard evidence that proves this.
By the way, here is a link to a poll of Iraqis where the bottom line is that 91.7% of Iraqis oppose the presence of coalition troops in the country:
http://abuaardvark.typepad.com/abuaardvark/2006/08/what_the_iraqi_.html
Additionally, the Independent in the UK reported two days ago that ” At least 100 people were killed across Iraq yesterday in a day of intense gun battles and suicide bombings, contradicting US military claims that the security situation in the war-torn nation was improving.”
I highly disagree with the claim that protesting the was is “aiding the enemy”. The “enemy” here is the presence of coalition troops in Iraq, which Iraqi’s clearly indicate is a problem and increasingly want them OUT, based on polls such as the one above.
August 31st, 2006 at 1:37 pm
Just wait a few years. When a Democrat is elected Commander in Chief, these same people will feel free to loudly criticize everything. They will say it’s their patriotic duty to oppose the President.
September 2nd, 2006 at 6:53 pm
I appreciate all the great feedback on this post. Thanks to all for your responses. I like the point that the tide will turn sharply as soon as a Democrat is able to take the helm of government again. Things may change in the world view of liberal and conservative dichotomies. The right vs. left and such. The problem is that this dichotomy is a distorted reality, a characature of the real politics in our home town, our nation and our world.
On Tuesday, Donald Rumsfeld likened the fight against Islamic radicals to the fight the “allied powers” fought against in World War II. He compares peace activists and war ctritics alike to Nazi appeasers. President Bush kept on message when he arrived. He also likened the military occupation of Iraq to the fight against the fascist armies of Europe.
Could Bush be counting upon the ignorance he and his ilk have left the people in since the Reagan Administration. It is inexcusable that education in America does not cover a full accounting of the roots of fascist governments in Europe, their development throughout the awful struggles of the world wide “Great Depression.” The so-called, “Great Depression” was actually the final manifestation of the abject failure of capitalism on a world wide scale. The economic system, it’s institutions, system and procedures collapsed and failed to recover. You could think of it as a flat line, several attempts were made to resuscitate it with “reforms” such as the New Deal in the United States. This too failed to rescue the global system after nearly 10 years of steady application.
In war devatstated Germany other solutions were being developed, by Hitler. Even prior to this the children of fascism were devising this diabolical new system of government, society and economy. The Western powers were deeply interested in the take over of Spain by Fascist Dictator Francisco Franco.
The colonial empires that became modern capitalism may be preserved through fascism, was common among European and American elites. The elites appeased Franco, Mussolini and Hitler throughout the 1930’s. On the contrary they were more interested to see how fascism might work, for them in the face of capitalism’s collapse. In the 1930’s their was even cooperation with Franco, Mussolini and Hitler from the U.K and U.S. in their efforts to overthrow their governments.
As the fascist successful took power in Spain, Portugal, Italy and Germany, with at least some complicity from the USA and UK, who do you think resisted? Just guess, who were the first and only consistent resisters of the fascist forces in Europe? It was the anarchist syndicates and unions, the socialist working class movements of Spain, Italy, Germany and France. They were students, peasants, laborers, local tradespeople and shopkeepers.
George W. Bush’s family actually were the Nazi and fascist appeasers. They were with the conservative political camp that were intigued by the possiblities of fascism. They stood back and played their cards to their own advantage. They did business, made contracts with the fascists and Nazi’s for everything from military equipment to computers that kept the books for the slaughter of millions of jews, slavs, queers, retards, cripples and yes activists.
But after all, it was just business. . . And the revolutionary Spanish CNT that George Orwell traveled from England to fight with against Franco’s fascist coup are erased from history. Like in the story 1984 they are gone. These events occurred in the mid to late 1930’s but are totally forgotten. The anarcho-syndicalist unions of Italy that died for their unpatriotic disloyalty against Mussolini’s rise to power. These are the unkown heroes who truly fought for freedom.
But no, all we hear abou are white racist, patriarchs of Europes fallen Empires like Mr. Winston Churchill who sounded the alarm against Hitler. That is just plain garbage.
If Mr. Bush even grasped the basic points of the history his claim might be credible. Bush beleives he can scare everybody with terms like “Islamo-fascism” and raise the Specter of Hitler and fascism or Stalinist communism. He thinks he can intimidate the people into silence about his invasion of lies and powermongering. Isn’t it ironic that the full fledged fasists nations all began their reign by planning a world wide “pre-emptive war” against neighboring countries? The invasion of Poland and Russia was a “pre-emptive” invasion against the threat communism posed to Germany? How odd that the Bush Administration uses the same logic to justify it’s invasion of Iraq to fight against ideas while calling peace activists, “Nazi appeasers.”