Column: Liberally Speaking; Now is the time to be Republican
Violence and sex are everywhere on television. The average person has seen more than 200,000 murders by the time they’re 18. Sexual behavior among high school and junior high school students has been normalized.
Several years ago, this would not be the case. Back before Elvis started shaking his hips, back when Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore slept in separate beds, back when Americans’ minds were clean. Those were the good ol’ days. Innocent America. Nothing to be offended by, nothing to worry about.
Perfect.
The picture looks slightly different in today’s society. Police officers are arresting shirtless men on TV, Billie Joe Armstrong is brainwashing our youth with radically liberal lyrics and every day we ease up a little more on what we deem as “inappropriate.” There is no doubt that our country is slipping away, and American values are slowly diminishing – or at least that is what conservatives are saying.
Just last night, while watching “The Daily Show,” a Republican propaganda commercial was shown. This commercial was a Star Wars spin-off, portraying Democrats as the Evil Rebel Empire and showed the Republicans as the Luke Skywalker-sponsored light side. My Star Wars trivia is a little rusty, but doesn’t the Evil Empire attack Luke Skywalker’s sand-filled, Arabian-like homeland in the beginning? How ironic.
Today, Republicans control every branch of government and the media. America is one of only two industrialized nations to enforce the death penalty. The vast majority of other industrialized societies support gay marriage and still, 11 out of 50 states in the United States outlaw it in their constitution. Besides the Middle East, the United States of America is the most conservative country on the planet.
There has never been a better time to be a Republican in America, and while President Bush is pulling in some of the lowest approval ratings in the history of the presidency, the mindset of a country “slipping away” is still on Americans’ minds.
President Bush and his Republican-controlled government are painting a deceiving picture. A picture of a country that is being taken over by evil empire-like liberals. Republicans would like us to believe our morals are being taken from us. When, in fact, the shoe belongs on the other foot.
President Bush’s approval ratings are plummeting for a reason. He is sitting in his metaphorical “Death Star” surrounded by people telling him he is right, when the country knows he is wrong. We are in a poorly planned war led by a corrupt man. I can only hope Han Solo is on his way.
Comments and questions can be sent to adamstrong@cc.usu.edu.