[Vision2020] Bend over, Barrett

[Joan Opyr]

Dear Visionaries:

Barrett Schroeder, chairman of the Latah County Republicans, is quoted in 
today's Daily News as saying that "he never would have guessed that anyone 
standing in Friendship Square on Thursday loved the United States."

He goes on: "I thought the coffin was probably uncalled for . . . There also 
was a poster with negative things about Laura Bush that I thought was 
uncalled for.  The election was two months ago, and it’s time to get behind 
the president and move on.  We didn't protest either time (former President 
Bill Clinton) was elected.  I'm not sure what the protesters' point was."

Not sure what our point was Barrett?  Let me help you out -- God knows if 
I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times since early November: 50.8% 
of the popular vote is not a popular electoral mandate.  Nearly half the 
country voted against Mr. Bush last November, but more than that, 49% of us 
voted for things like universal healthcare, a living wage, respect for 
diplomacy and the Geneva Conventions, help for the poor, civil rights, civil 
liberties, and the Constitutional guarantees of equality for all citizens 
that the Bush Administration has persistently put at risk.  That's why we 
were standing out there in the cold on Thursday -- to let Mr. Bush and 
Republicans like you know that we count, that we matter, and that we love 
our country.  We are not going to surrender our democracy to you on the 
basis of .8% margin of victory.  To paraphrase the president of the NRA, 
you'll pry our democracy out of our cold dead hands.

Shame on you for suggesting that we don't love the United States.  Shame on 
you for pretending that the GOP has a lock on values, on patriotism, and on 
understanding exactly what it is that makes this country great.  We believe 
in democracy -- American democracy.  We believe in one person, one vote.  We 
believe in an America in which every vote counts and every vote counts 
equally.  We believe in the traditional values expressed by the Constitution 
and the Bill of Rights and in the checks and balances provided by an 
independent judiciary.  We believe in these things, and so we put them in a 
coffin because we wanted to draw attention to the fact that these things are 
at risk.  Your President's nominee for Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales, 
has referred to the Geneva Conventions as "quaint."  Your President's under 
the impression that Constitution should be amended for the first time in our 
history to restrict the civil rights of certain selected citizens.  Your 
President believes that we can and should hold prisoners indefinitely at 
Camp X-Ray without trial, without charge, and without access to an attorney. 
  The price of liberty, Mr. Schroeder, is eternal vigilance.  That's what we 
were doing when we stood in Friendship Square on Thursday; we weren't just 
exercising our right to free speech.

Moscow is a small town.  I've met you Barrett.  I've had pleasant 
conversations with you both in person and online.  You seem like a nice 
fellow, but I want you to consider yourself spanked and spanked hard.  With 
a hairbrush.  I don't question your love of country; how dare you question 
mine?  Here's your whipping.  I hope it burns.

Joan Opyr/Auntie Establishment

PS: If you don't recall the GOP protesting either of Bill Clinton's 
elections then I suggest that you head down to the Goodwill and spend three 
or four dollars on a cheap blue dress.  Take it home, splooge a little 
mayonnaise or some hair conditioner on it, let it dry, and then stare at it 
really, really hard.  Eventually, if you really concentrate, a vision of Ken 
Starr will dance before your eyes.  If partisan impeachment doesn't 
constitute a form of electoral protest, then I don't know what does.