Beyond Bush

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UTNE IS AN officially non-partisan magazine, and if you don’t believe me, flip to page 152. That’s where we profile one of our readers, James D. Hodgson, who served as Richard Nixon’s Secretary of Labor and helped enact the controversial Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA).

But this column, I should warn you, makes a rather partisan appeal—a fact explained in part by Mr. Hodgson’s presence in our pages. Can you imagine a Bush cabinet member reading a magazine like Utne, or proposing regulations to ensure safer working conditions for all Americans? The GOP today is not your father’s Republican party. (It’s not even Bush’s father’s party.) Guess how long a genuinely compassionate conservative like James Hodgson would last in Washington these days?

Let me get to my point right away: We must do everything we can to unseat George W. Bush and his congressional supporters in next year’s election. The fate of America depends on it. I mean this literally. The Bush administration’s actions on Iraq, terrorism, the environment, the economy, civil liberties, and the judicial system pose a serious threat to our future. A nation solely dedicated to exercising military might and expanding corporate power will not stand tall for long.

We should be open to a rebellion in Republican ranks, in which someone arises from obscurity to challenge the madness that’s overtaken the party of Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt. We should also invite the Green Party to come forward with a plan showing how they can sew up 270 electoral votes in the next 18 months. But until then, we’re left with the Democrats.

Now, before you sigh and throw up your hands, please recall what a different country this was three years ago. Al Gore, whatever his shortcomings as a progressive and dynamic leader, would not be searching the world for new opportunities to wage war and scheming to eliminate taxes on millionaires. It’s worth remembering that Democrats are the political force that has implemented or maintained most of the valuable political initiatives in American life—social security, environmental regulation, the 40-hour workweek, even Mr. Hodgson’s OSHA.

Like many of you, I’ve had my patience tested to the breaking point on numerous occasions by the party of Carter and Clinton. And I don’t see much happening in Democratic circles right now that renews my confidence. The Dems have refused to take a decisive stand against the Bush administration on many crucial issues, and their current line-up of presidential candidates looks far from inspiring, at least at first glance. But this is not the time for us to sit back and wait for the perfect candidate who embodies progressive purity. Our mission is to stop Bush, Rumsfeld, Ashcroft, Cheney, and Gail Norton from undermining much of what’s finest about this country—both in the eyes of the world and in our own lives here at home.

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