A local democrat recently suggested that I shouldn't call my local not-so representative, John Sweeney "Bush's Goon" (which I had) because we might offend people who had voted for him.
Hello? The man went to Miami and acted like a thug screaming "Shut it down," putting an end to the civil counting of votes in the 2000 election. He was the leader of what is known as the Brooks Brothers Riot.
His behavior there and his support of the Bush agenda has earned him the title of "Bush's Goon" as far as I'm concerned. Not that I'd recommend a candidate calling him that, just like Bush didn't call Kerry a Flip-Flopper (of course not! He had more Goons around for that job).
I happened to have lived in Miami at the time, and I had been assured by my elected officials that the votes were going to be recounted and that the declared winner would be the real winner, based on a a fair and honest recount.
So I didn't appreciate having a bunch of partisan carpetbaggers coming into my voting district and "shutting it down!" Thank you very much. Then a few years later, wasn't I lucky to have moved into the district of the lead carpetbagger?
But I ask you: Did the Rs worry that people would be offended when they called Kerry a flip flopper? Or when they basically accused him of treason in the swift boat ads? Or when they said Dean was angry? Or when they had purple heart "band-aids" at their convention? Nope!
Why are we always so worried about saying something that is going to make them unhappy? Politics is tough stuff, if you can't hack the heat get outta the kitchen. If you're going to elect people who are going to ruin this country, I'm going to call them as I see 'em.
And if one of them is going to act like a thug, people are sooner or later going to have to stand up and call thugs thugs, and liars liars. Enough is enough already with Mr. Nice Guy, they don't deserve it. And if we don't tell it like it is, then who will?
That is a harsh reality, but it is true, this man has voted for the Bush agenda from day one. All of the people that have supported the Bush agenda are Bush's Goons as far as I'm concerned. They have abandoned PAYGO rules and replace them with increased debt limits. They squandered a surplus and replaced it with record deficits. They took away International weapons inspectors and sent in our troops to die in an unrequired war. They voted for medicare "reform" that was really a give away for their drug company campaign donors. They voted for food labeling that takes power from the people and gives it to their big food industry donors. They sent troops into a war with no exit plan in sight.
They all deserve to be called exactly what they are - Goons! And corrupt ones at that. Will they like that? No, but guess what? Truth hurts. Especially when they have been toeing the line of a liar in chief. Bush stood there telling us that he would find out who the leakers were when in fact - he was the leaker all along.
I guess Clinton and Bush have just one thing in common, they both lied about a leak in the oval office.
And if we can't call a liar a liar for the voters, then we can't be trusted either. Yes, we should (and do) have a positive vision but we also have to be ready to define the negative aspects of the Republican party. We are after all (supposed to be) the opposition party. The Republicans have taken over thanks in large part to their willingness to let folks like Rush Limbaugh and Bill O Lielly run roughshod over our side. I for one am going to start returning the favor and I'm not going to let them control the debate anymore. I'm calling JS Bush's Goon, and I don't care if the Republicans like it or not.