dubya
by rivkah koppel

I have this very sad feeling we’re going to have Dubya around for 4 more years. I keep trying to figure out the spiritual significance to this since I feel his presidency represents some of our worst instincts. Then today I read, “The person who upsets you the most is your best teacher, because they bring you face to face with who you are.” What?? How does George the 2nd show me who I am? Liar? Well yes, occasionally—but a lot less then I used to be! Ideologue? OK, so sometimes I go off on rants and have fanciful ideas that have little to do with reality but who doesn’t do that? War monger? I am definitely not a war monger! I’m a person of peace, who wishes love and light to the world-unless you cut me off while I’m driving, or get in my way when I’m in a hurry, or treat me in a way I interpret as disrespectful.

I’m trying to get the message here. I can’t stand George Bush’s policies and I especially can’t stand those working around him. His cabinet, Rove & Hughes and his other so called advisors, who tell him what to say and think. The idea that this man sticks by his principles is laughable since he’s so clearly a puppet of so many others. Yet this is what the majority of polled Americans think about him; that he sticks to his guns..Literally.

When it comes to politics, I’m pretty much a novice. Like most people, I want a president who represents my ideas and values and I realize almost every politician will say almost anything to get elected. But what does it mean when the ideas & values I feel are important, seem very different than the majority of people who vote? What does it mean when most people would rather have a ‘daddy’ figure that will make them feel safe, than a person of quality who understands the complexity of modern life? I’d like someone to make me feel safe too. I’d love it if I could believe any other person or group of people were capable of making everything all right for me. But I know better. And I bet, down deep, most people know better too. It’s just such a powerful pull back to childhood when people had a dad to take care of them and if they didn’t, wished they had.

These are scary times, no doubt about it. But one of the scariest realities to me is that most media are owned by only a few mega corporations and they’re just itching to scare the pants off of us. In my opinion much of the media wants us to keep reading, listening and watching and so lead all their news reporting with big loud scary noises to get, and keep, our attention. Politicians use that to their advantage to try and convince us they’re the ones who know how to handle whatever frightening situation we find ourselves in. Incredibly, Dick Cheney is threatening us with the idea that if we vote for John Kerry we’ll be hit with another terrorist attack. Give me a break! And unfortunately Kerry doesn’t do himself (or us) any favors when he falls into the trap of trying to say all the ‘right’ stuff instead of how he truly feels. He makes himself vulnerable to sound bite hits from Cheney and the like, and of course news organizations eat it up.

I swear, if it would do any good, any good at all, I’d demonize Bush & company more. If I believed it would really change anything, I’d demonize them until I was hoarse. But honestly, nothing changes with that tactic. Believe me, I’ve tried. And conversely, nothing changes with apathy, or the ‘do nothing and believe there’s a purpose in all this that will be revealed later’, attitude. (Actually, I subscribe to this, but in the meantime too much suffering goes on, to the planet and its people.)

I believe in the goodness of the human heart-including George Bush’s. Having said that, I’m going to work as hard as I can to defeat him and his cohorts this November. I’ll talk, I’ll write, I’ll pray, I’ll ask for divine guidance and hope for the best. Because in the end, if the person who upsets me the most is bringing me face to face with who I am, then when I look at myself in the mirror, I want to like what I see.

The society is created by each one of us. We have created the society in which we live-social interrelationships and social activity. We must accept responsibility for it, each one of us.~ J. Krishnamurti

Rivkah Koppel voted for president for the first time in 1964. So did Hillary Clinton. They both voted for Barry Goldwater. Rivkah has been a practicing Massage Therapist since 1984. [ rivkah@josh.com ; 828.253.1284 ]