Originally, I planned to write a column detailing the disturbing similarities between the Bush administration and George Orwell's masterpiece, "1984." During Bush's watch we've witnessed Big Brother attempts to organize a volunteer army of citizen spies (Operation TIPS) and create an invasive government database of personal information (Total Information Awareness).
In Orwell's dystopia, the government uses misleading language and patriotic rhetoric to control attitudes and beliefs. The Ministry of Peace wages endless war, the Ministry of Truth disseminates lies, and so on. Sound familiar? The Clear Skies and Healthy Forests initiatives are among the most ironically named programs ever, and Bush uses the perpetual "war on terrorism" to his political advantage whenever possible.
However, as intriguing as the Bush-Orwell topic may be, there is an emerging political phenomenon of greater significance to the upcoming election, one that may especially interest undecided voters.
A growing group of vocal and disillusioned Republicans are putting patriotism before partisanism. Many Republicans are not supporting the president for re-election.
I'll start with the comments of Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island. In a New York Times article, Chafee recalls his first meeting with Dick Cheney in December 2000. Cheney met with five moderate Republicans and detailed the new agenda: steep tax cuts for the rich, a missile defense program and an abandonment of the Kyoto environmental accords. For Chafee, that was "the beginning of an estrangement with the president whom he had worked to elect." Now, the lifelong Republican admits he cannot vote for Bush. With his party moving dramatically to the right, Chafee has even admitted wondering if he can remain a Republican.
William Milliken, the former Republican governor of Michigan, recently "came out" and announced his strong support for John Kerry. This marked the first time the 82-year-old Republican has ever publicly endorsed a Democratic presidential candidate.
Bob Barr, a rabid right-winger, is also deeply troubled by the extremist Bush administration. In an opinion column, Barr writes, "For the first time in my voting life, the choice in the race for president isn't so clear. And, among true conservatives, I'm not alone." Barr correctly observes that Bush "inherited an enviable fiscal situation" in 2000 and notes that we now suffer "record levels of new spending, including nearly double-digit increases in nondefense discretionary spending." Furthermore, "Many law-abiding citizens accurately perceive that their own freedoms and civil liberties are being stripped." Barr insists, "Bush's problem is that true conservatives remember their history."
Surprisingly, two senior Republican senators, in an unexpected display of forthrightness, publicly rebuked the catastrophic failure of Bush's Iraq war. GOP Senators Richard Lugar and Chuck Hagel pulled no punches, describing the Bush administration's pre-war predictions as "nonsense" and "blithely optimistic," and called efforts to rebuild Iraq as "incompetent."
Even several conservative newspapers and magazines have turned on the president. The very conservative Tampa Tribune has refused to endorse Bush. It's the first time in 40 years they haven't endorsed the Republican presidential candidate.
The American Conservative magazine - obviously not a liberal periodical - recently commented, "this election does not offer traditional conservatives an easy or natural choice." Scott McConnell, the executive editor of The American Conservative, has endorsed John Kerry. McConnell wrote, "George W. Bush has come to embody a politics that is antithetical to almost any kind of thoughtful conservatism," and is "unworthy of any conservative support." McConnell went even further and declared, "the only way Americans will have a presidency in which neoconservatives and the Christian Armageddon set are not holding the reins of power is if Kerry is elected."
This election is more important than party loyalty. Bush is dangerous. He's a radical. Thankfully, many Republicans are realizing that.
John Bice is an MSU staff member. He can be reached at bice@msu.edu.
