Why Not George? --- By William Broyles, Jr.
Whatever one might say about Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11, he sure got one thing right: the ending. Never have I heard and felt so strongly in my mind that lyric and call to action of the Who: “Don’t Be Fooled Again.”
Texans know George W. Bush better than anyone. He went to the White House with our best wishes, our good will, and a large majority of the votes cast in Texas. But the presidency of George W. Bush has been a disaster. He has trampled on what he promised to do in 2000, and it’s only going to get worse if he’s re-elected.
And make no mistake about it: With all respect for his office, his family, and his public service when he was governor of Texas, President Bush is the problem. It’s not his aides, and it’s not his cabinet. Harry Truman said it for the ages: The buck stops with the president. George W. Bush is in command of a failed presidency. He has violated our trust, our pride, and our honor as Texans and citizens of the United States.
Long ago, I tumbled out of a helicopter to a landing in the mud in front of marines who realized with alarm that I was the lieutenant sent to command their infantry platoon in Vietnam. Now my 26-year-old son is in an Air Force para-rescue special operations unit-in his second combat tour of Afghanistan and Iraq. I am proud of him and terrified for him. It’s the pride and dread of any parent whose son or daughter who steps forward to defend our country in times of war. But my anxiety is compounded by my realization that I have more faith in my son’s character and the dedication of his comrades than I have in the judgment of the commander-in-chief who has put them in harm’s way.
I’ve never been much of a political activist before. But I’m convinced this presidential election is the most important in my lifetime.
Why elect John?
On the issue of Vietnam and the garbage peddlers who think they can fool voters by slandering the war record of John Kerry, I can only say they’ve sure got some gall. It takes plenty of nerve and skill to fly a jet fighter, but in that war Lieutenant Bush chose his enlistment to stay away from the duty station where bullets were flying. I’ve respected John Kerry for thirty-five years because he fought and led bravely and because he spoke up for brothers who were being asked to go on dying in a mission-less war that cynical politicians had already decided to lose. I admire John Kerry because he served his community as a hard-nosed criminal prosecutor. I admire Senator John Kerry because he and John McCain brought resolution and healing to the issue of American POWs-MIAs in Southeast Asia. I’ll vote for John Kerry to be my president because I know he has the conscience and range to address our enormous problems at home. I’ll vote for John Kerry because I know he has the backbone and integrity to defend our nation against all enemies and restore our standing among friends who fear we’ve forgotten our historic principles and lost our way.
That’s why I applaud Bruce Springsteen, Bonnie Raitt, and those brave Texans the Dixie Chicks in their Vote for Change tour of concerts. That’s why between now and November 8, I’m going to be knocking on doors of strangers and fellow citizens in Nevada and South Dakota. We’ve got to bring people who have been feeling disaffected and disenfranchised back into the electoral process. But it’s easy to make too much of red states and blue states and swing states. We’re all in this together, and it’s important for Americans to know that that hundreds of thousands of Texans are going to be voting for a change in our nation’s leadership.
That’s why I’m proud to stand with the Texas Arts Community in this grass-roots initiative of positive energy and principled dissent. Who are we? We’re artists of varied interests and craft and consumers and supporters of the arts. We are also parents, veterans, churchgoers, and patriots. We care deeply about our country, about education, health care, the economy, public safety, the environment. We have aging parents in need of health care, children in need of better schools, members of family in uniform who need assurance their tours of duty won’t be extended arbitrarily and that their veterans’ benefits won’t be slashed after they’ve served. We live in communities whose residents know we need more police on the streets, more resources for public safety, more attention paid to our crumbling infrastructure. That’s why we want to our nation to leave behind George W. Bush and a negative, divisive administration that has broken its contract with the future to enrich the very few. John Kerry has what it takes to inspire and lead our great nation. As an American hero said thirty-six months ago, let’s roll.
Essay written for email promotion drive of the Texas Arts Community. All other rights reserved William Broyles, Jr. A native of Baytown, Bill Broyles was the founding editor of Texas Monthly and the editor-in-chief of Newsweek. He wrote about his experience as a marine officer in Vietnam in his book Brothers in Arms and as creator of the TV series China Beach. His screenwriting credits include Cast Away and the Oscar-nominated Apollo 13.
