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Apparently
there was an increase in the number of visitors
to Canada's immigration website on the night
of the 2004 US election. But it wasn't until
a few months later, during the President's State
of the Union address, that I visited the website
myself. That was the night that I decided it
was time to move out of America and to take a
stand on the American values of human rights,
respect,
liberty, justice and rule of democratic law.
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We all
suffer each time the ideals of democracy are threatened
by its foes. Given the extent
to which the United States now functions as a
safe haven for the anti-democratic ideals advanced
by
George Bush, I decided on the night of the 2005
State of the Union speech that it was time to
go someplace
else, where democracy stood on stronger ground.
George
Bush should not be the President of the United
States. He is an opponent to the rule of law, to
the values of human rights and to the principles
of democracy. When he
performs official acts as President, such as when
he gives the State of the Union, I am reminded
of the great contradiction that he represents.
George
Bush has no moral right to speak before the nation
in the People's House. He should be shunned by
all patriots, by all who love democracy and by
all who love America.
Adolf
Hitler committed many crimes against humanity,
some so
great as to be beyond comparison - such as the
crime of the Holocaust. But Nazi Germany was also
guilty
of other crimes. Adolf Hitler's regime was guilty
of the crime of torture, the crime
of aggression and the crime of fascism - all affronts
to human dignity and basic justice.
 
George
Bush, while in no way as bad as Adolf Hitler -
innocent of the
crime of genocide, did commit other great crimes.
George Bush's crimes include aggressive
war, illegal warfare and torture. Watching the
President speak from the
People's
House on
the night of the 2005 State of the Union reminded
me that he was getting away with criminal behaviour.
Worse,
he
was doing
so at the helm of institutions that should be symbols
of what the
Republic stands for. Instead of standing for democracy
and
liberalism (in the greater sense of the word),
George Bush stands for tyranny and oppression.
The invasion
and occupation of Iraq is a great crime - tens
of thousands are dead because of it. But
in the State of the
Union
the President also committed a lesser crime, a
crime directed at me. George
Bush
invoked the denial of my civil rights as a means
to gain
power
and
maintain popular support for his administration's
criminal conduct.
President
Bush called for a "constitutional
amendment to protect the institution of marriage." He
was referring to the push to deny
the rights of states to recognize civil unions
between
gay and lesbian couples. And it was that push,
the anti-gay push of America's Christian right,
that had led so many in my country to put
aside morality against war and to replace it
with morality
against me.
As a
gay man this singling out in the State of the Union
invoked a
strong response. I felt as if an accusing finger
was being pointed directly at me. But the finger
was
being
pointed at millions if
others like me, all objects of political gamesmanship.
George Bush was using us to get power. He was dividing
my country
against
us.
The denying
of rights is not unprecedented in the
United States, nor is doing so for political
gain. But amending the Constitution for such a
reason
is unprecedented. The Bill of Rights granted
unprecedented rights and liberties for its time.
It is therefore nothing
but shameful to even
suggest using the same political process to retract
rights.
When
the Democratic strategy of complacency resulted
in keeping the George Bush nightmare going, many
Americans didn't know how to handle what had just
happened.
On the eve of the election, I can remember my partner
Ron telling me that our upstairs neighbour started
crying (loudly) when George Bush's
victory was announced.
I remember
walking home from election
night parties, not stunned or surprised, but
deeply saddened. Bush
had won, using every divisive tool available,
under the protection of a broken press and a toothless
opposition. He had won by marginalizing gays
and
lesbians, disenfranchising Americans of colour
and through all the means of fear ever invented
by the monsters of modern politics, including
televised ads using raging wolves in the night.
The United
States is in deeply troubling times. I am not sure
that democracy can survive these times. And that
is a tragedy not only for me, not only for my nation,
but for the entire world and for all humanity.
Democracy, and the values of human dignity and
respect on which democracy stands, is a treasure
that must be sustained.
I
came to Canada not for absolution from
George Bush's great crimes, but to be placed where
there was a greater chance of
taking
a stand
and making a difference. I came here to see what
a more functioning democracy is like, and to hopefully
share what I learn with other Americans seeking
a way out of the dark. I want to learn how to tame
those raging wolves, how to make democracy strong
and how to take back America to the values for
which my nation should stand.
May 25, 2007
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