I\’m really quite afraid to go back to the States. I\’ve been having nightmares where I suddenly find myself back in DC, at a loss for how I got there. \”No, no! Don\’t make me! You can\’t make me stay here!\”
Being away for the past few months has been relaxing. I still read and see the US news, but it doesn\’t feel as scary when I\’m not living smack in the middle of the nightmare. No, not the nightmare of terrorism — the nightmare of conservatism, fundamentalism, and crazy Republican extremists, amid all the American patriots, the \”Support Our Troops\” stickers, the flags, the crosses, and the demands for teaching Creationism instead of evolution.
I don\’t want to go back to all of that. I really don\’t. Despite the racism here, despite the violence and misogyny, I would much rather be here, stepping over piles of puke on a Sunday morning, instead of dodging Fundies and their literature on a day to day basis.
America really scares me these days. The past few years have been bad, but it seems that since leaving it has become worse. Probably that is just due to the much greater accessibility to information once on the other side of the border. The bookstores here have full shelves of recent releases on anti-Americanism, why the world hates or fears America, what America is doing wrong, how Bush/Cheney have their fingers up the rectums of every major player in the game… it strikes me as oddly amusing that though the USA guarantees free speech, you wouldn\’t find a full aisle of this stuff in a mainstream bookstore in the States. You\’d be more likely to find a few serious books mixed in with a lot of tripe like \”Bushisms\” and the like.
Here, though there is no guarantee of free speech, and though (Prime Minister John) Howard is a Bush puppet on many issues, open and public criticism is not only accepted but expected. There are two mainstream television stations (non-pay) that frequently show Iraq war documentaries, war on terror documentaries, and other America/Bush related documentaries that show what a mess everything is. Most of these documentaries wouldn\’t even have half a chance of getting shown on HBO, let alone on regular prime time television in the States. They\’re far too full of what the general populace doesn\’t want to hear, and they\’re far grittier, more realistic, and not meant to be humorous like Michael Moore\’s inane agitprop.
Fortunately, though, there is the internet, and if you know where to seek and what to seek for, you shall find.
The Power of Nightmares is a three part documentary that was made last year for the BBC. Thanks to the wonderful people at the Information Clearing House, anyone with an internet connection can now read the entire transcript of this insightful and well researched piece. You can even watch it on the site in Real video.
Stay informed. If you haven\’t yet, join the ACLU. Or maybe you think it\’s more important to look pretty for your Real ID card when they go into effect in three years. We have already lost so much. Let\’s get our country back while we still can.
