Another Angle | When Bush comes to shove...what is democracy?

Amanda Melillo Opinions Editor

Obviously, no one on the winning side likes a protestor. The votes are in, the voice of the majority has been heard (even if the majority is 51 percent), and it’s time to get something really productive accomplished (like increasing the deficit). Clearly, one holding a sign declaring “Not My President” does not expect a warm reception from Bush supporters. However, I would think that those Bush supporters who got the “four more years” that they had been chanting in pre-election months would be rejoicing that their candidate is still in power.

At least, this was my thinking until I went to the inauguration and witnessed some of the victors’ behavior first-hand.

Exhibit A occurred right after the DAWN (D.C. Anti-War Network) march through the capital had ended. I witnessed three women speaking with three policemen; one of the women was fighting back tears. When a Vassar student asked another of the women what had happened, she told us that they had just come from the march holding their protest signs when two men in business suits with brief cases came up to them and purposely pushed them down. The cops standing nearby to monitor the protestors witnessed the entire thing and merely shrugged it off, choosing not to take any action. While I find this to be unacceptable on the policeman’s part, I find it even more appalling that two grown businessmen felt the need to push three women just carrying signs to the ground…and actually acted on that impulse.

The next event that stands out in my mind happened while protesters and Bush supporters alike lined along the inaugural parade route on Pennsylvania Avenue. My friend held a poster that read “Killing one person is murder—killing 100,000 is foreign policy.” As we stood in the middle of a Republican stronghold, a middle-aged woman turned to her and, in a voice dripping with disgust, said, “Oh come on, get a life.”

Shortly after this, a female protestor turned and started arguing with another man nearby about the world’s perception of America and the deficit—to which he responded that those protesting were probably all on welfare, didn’t pay taxes, didn’t know anything about the economy, and had probably never traveled out of the country and therefore had no clue how the world perceives the United States.

Now, aside from the fact that this behavior was rude and reprehensible, I find it hard to believe that all of those that were not in the 51 percent that voted for Bush are on welfare and don’t pay taxes. I also find it hard to believe that members of the so-called “intellectual elite” don’t understand economic basics and international relations. I am led to wonder why these are the insults he chose to hurl at the protestors, since it is usually the wealthy that I hear about getting busted for tax evasion. Furthermore, those on welfare are as much a part of this country as those of his mindset and deserve a political voice as well.

Then again, this is an administration in which the louder you speak, the more right you are, and those that oppose you are unpatriotic.

Throughout the campaign, the Bush team was accused of running a campaign of fear, fear of terrorist attacks and weapons of mass destruction and living in an ever-volatile world. It appears that fear of terrorism has been translated into fear of any opposition, of the voice that speaks out, of the mind that questions. Why else would a man on the street yell, “Four more years, send those damn liberals right back to the closet!”

I suppose the healthier attitude would be that of the Republican family from Wyoming standing next to us and engaging us in a friendly chat: “You’re here, we’re here, we’re all in this country together.” I think of the clashing opinions on the Funeral March for Democracy and the CIA recruitment protest, about student dialogue about activism in recent months, and perhaps the point is not what we’re protesting or who is right, but that we are exercising our democratic voice at all. Regardless of what one thinks about activism at our college, on Inauguration Day, Vassar students were part of a voice that would not be silenced and a body that would not be pushed down. If we can at least listen to the other side without automatically shutting down, then maybe we can engage in a dialogue that can really move these issues forward—then perhaps we can take more productive action rather than just pushing opposition to the ground.