In the 60s, campus radicals said that they wanted to "rip the mask off the face of power." That is, they wanted to show the Establishment for what it really was--in their view, an oppressive, racist, warmongering elite. I'm no 60s radical, but I'm starting to feel radically about the Bush Administration--radically worried that it is taking the country in the wrong direction, even off a cliff. I'm radically worried that it has gone so wrong in so many directions, from its misguided war on Iraq to its attack on civil liberties to its war against medical research. But I didn't quite realize just how radically radical the Bush administration really was until I read an article in the April 6 Baltimore Sun with this headline:

      "Administration wages war on pornography: Obscenity: For the first time in 10 years, the U.S. government is spending millions to file charges across the country."

      The article describes how a total of 32 Justice Department employees--plus an unknown number of FBI agents--are seeking to rid America of adult material--OK, if you prefer, porn. Getting rid of child pornography--that's fine. But here's what John Ashcroft's Justice Department enforcers are going after, according to the Sun: "Nothing is off limits, they warn, even soft-core cable programs such as HBO's long-running 'Real Sex' or the adult movies widely offered in guestrooms of major hotels." Got that? This isn't chasing down Russian white-slavers, this is chasing down Time-Warner (which owns HBO) and Hyatt or Hilton. And quite possibly, the government will have an effect: after all, prominent corporations, with lots of business before the federal government, are easy targets. Such companies might find it easier to just back down and remove government-forbidden material from their operations.

      That's bad enough, although it will amount to a relative pittance--a few million for lawyers, a few million in lost profits, hardly to be noticed by these corporate behemoths.

      Of course, at the same time, the real crimes against freedom will be perpetrated against small video store owners, or even individual consumers, out in the Heartland somewhere. Those folks may or may not be able to afford lawyers, they might just get snuffed out. Just wait.

      But now let's real, as well as radical: WHAT THE HELL IS THE BUSH/ASHCROFT "INJUSTICE" DEPARTMENT DOING?

      Let me count the ways that this new program is radically wrong for America:

      First, there's a war on terror going on. As the Spanish just learned, none of us are safe. We've spent billions to make airports and airplanes secure since 9-11, but now we see that we are going to have to spend billions more to safeguard ports, terminals, and other public places. And even then, we can hardly be sure that we are safe. Which is to say, the government needs every available resource to keep us from being killed.

      Second, there's a war on crime going on. To be sure, the war against crime is everlasting, but in the past 10 years or so, we've learned that smart police tactics can radically reduce the crime rate--that is, the crimes that people fear most, such as rape and robbery. Once again, why are three dozen or so officials searching for "XXX" instead? I suppose that some federales might actually wish to have a job in which they get paid to look at naughty pictures all day, but the taxpayers should look at this picture--and realize that there's something radically wrong with it.

      Third, people should be free. Here's the First Amendment, in its entirety: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances." Note that there's nothing in the text that should allow governments and their desire to suppress freedom. Indeed, if the feds were really following the Bill of Rights and the Constitution, they would have to put themselves in jail for taking away the freedom of others. (Of course, the First Amendment should never be confused with the "Frist Amendment," as in Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, who believes that freedom is OK, unless the government decides otherwise; to wit, his ceaseless effort to stymie freedom over the airwaves, as detailed in an Ivote2004.com "alert" published on Wednesday.)

      Fourth, Bush is, in effect, using tax dollars to bolster his own re-election campaign. It's a two-part strategy, and it's a little bit indirect--which is all the more reason for voters and taxpayers to ponder what's happening. The mere fact that he is using all these federal gumshoes--and hiring high-profile prosecutor Bruce Taylor--is going to help him win over all those religious rightwingers and other social conservatives who might be disaffected with Bush for any number of reasons. Now, Bush can say to them, "Lookee here! I've got all these folks working to enforce your Christian Coalition-ish views!" That'll surely get him some votes in Mississippi--with the nation's taxpayers picking up the tab.

      Fifth, Bush and Ashcroft can potentially use those same tax-funded investigators and prosecutors to set up investigations and prosecutions in key states between now and November. Once again, that will keep Bush's right-wing base stoked up. But the "right" sort of government move might also serve to divert attention away from other news--on Iraq, on the economy. That is, if things are going badly in Fallujah, or in the local factory, maybe Uncle Sam will use your tax dollars to set up a diversionary stunt--"Look, Irma! The government is smiting wickedness, right here in Podunk! Thank the Lord!" You get the idea. It's the legal equivalent of "wagging the dog"--an attempt to use a political stunt to distract attention from something that's not going well. Magicians do it all the time. So do politicians.

      These are five bad things that Bush is doing, each of them radically wrong. And so Bush must be confronted.

      And if Bush is a would-be magician, seeking to divert attention away from his policy failures, seeking to manipulate the government to help his own re-election, that's all the more reason for us, the true silent majority, to rip off his veil, to unmask him. Because while what we will see underneath will no doubt be ugly, it's better to confront it now, before he is re-elected.

      As I said, I'm no 60s radical. But I have radical feelings about Bush: he's a reckless warmonger abroad, and he's neglecting our homeland security, even as he chases after victimless "crimes." That's a formula for blood and tears. He must be stopped, at the ballot box, in November.


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