Dear George Bush

    It is a fickle¹ tide，

    one that has the presence of mind

    to alter its course.

    You may remember how just a year ago

    many believed you to be illegitimate

    （you still are）。

    Those were the days when your

    slips of the tongue

    were circulated as comic relief

    when in reality

    they weren't very funny.

    After all， they revealed

    your true feelings

    like the clown with the innocent face

    who sneers² under his smile

    while handing out glasses of water

    laced with arsenic³.

    You're a prophet， George Bush，

    every dangling⁴ modifier

    and stumbling qualification

    were just your way of telling the truth，

    like how you accidentally predicted on

    Dec. 18， 2000， during your first trip to Washington， DC as President-Elect：

    "If this were a dictatorship， it'd be a heck of a lot easier. . .

    just as long as I'm the dictator. . ."

    I understand why the majority of Americans

    think any mocking of your character is unpatriotic，

    and I understand the importance of patriotism⁶

    when there is a need to rally a country

    into a nationalist collective identity

    that forcibly sends a message to the rest of the world

    （including our allies）

    that nobody messes with the U.S.A.，

    a war cry that echoes out and incites⁸

    all the two-Lexus SUV families

    and those who believe they too will someday own one

    （in other words， not all of us）

    to shout in the spirit of the moment：

    "Bin⁹ Laden¹⁰： nowhere to run， nowhere to hide！"

    and "Red， White and Blue： these colors will not run！"

    Great slogans， actually.

    They've worked.

    I've overheard some astute¹¹ political commentary

    just listening to people on the street.

    "They should execute him publicly

    and live on TV just like they do over in those countries，"

    and "Look around the world. You see

    that there are only two choices： Capitalism¹² or corruption¹³."

    From my standpoint， there are some logical problems

    with these heartfelt opinions

    （the former makes the ranter into the thing he most hates，

    and the latter obviously did not lose his life savings¹⁴ when

    Enron executives pocketed over a billion dollars

    before the stock tumbled）。

    I am one of many

    who does not believe that these good people，

    and they are good people，

    represent the viewpoints of the citizens of the U.S.A.

    I know you hate that word， citizen.

    And that this is not a new thing.

    The principals of democracy are threatened by the big game

    you're playing with those energy corporations：

    they contribute to your campaign，

    you put them on your cabinet

    to set environmental policy——

    did you really think we wouldn't care？

    Of course I know that the 1st amendment¹⁵ was being threatened

    long before you took office

    and long before this current discussion of "homeland security"

    terrified the people，

    putting the country into a state of siege，

    making it easier for you to control.

    I remember the Republican National Convention

    in Philadelphia， July 2000.

    The police raided a warehouse¹⁶

    where protesters were making puppets

    because the materials

    chicken wire and cardboard

    could have been used

    to make bombs.

    They destroyed the puppets

    and put all of the protesters in jail

    initially¹⁷ charging them

    with the intent to incite⁷ riots

    when in fact they were intending

    to inspire people to participate in democracy.

    I remember being corralled like cattle

    at anti-globalization protests

    and marching along wondering

    what happened to freedom of assembly？

    I remember racial profiling，

    and how all of these other constitutional violations¹⁸

    have been used for centuries，

    especially against the African-American community，

    and that minority citizens and immigrants

    have been subject to some of the grossest

    infringements¹⁹ of civil liberties——

    the two words that uphold the very power of democracy——

    for a very long time.

    And you hate that I know these things.

    That I know about Unocal's

    plan for a pipeline²⁰ through Afghanistan

    to reap oil from the yet untapped reserves in the Caspian Sea.

    That I know about your family's immense profits

    from doing business with the Bin Laden family，

    which preserves the Saudi court.

    That I know about how you hindered the FBI

    from investigating the Bin Laden family's connections to terrorism

    before the September attacks.

    That I know about how between 1988 and 1999

    Dick Cheney's company， Halliburton，

    oversaw²¹ $23.8 million of business contracts

    for the sale of oil-industry equipment and services to Iraq，

    greatly helping²² Hussein maintain his grip on power.

    Seems as if conflict of interest

    is just a reality

    that I'll have to learn to live with，

    but you can be sure

    that I'll never stop

    looking for the big picture

    and the larger context

    because these days there is always

    more going on than can be reported

    on Fox News Channel upbeat

    sound-bite news reports.

    I know that in the U.S.A. Patriot⁵ Act

    there are some implications

    that good citizens should just keep their mouths shut，

    and you think we will sit by

    while gray-suited vigilantes

    from your new private army

    stop us on the street

    and let you see our ID，

    making the whole country

    into one gigantic Palm Beach

    where non-white citizens had to carry ID to prove that they

    were indeed non-white citizens.

    This practice was eventually made illegal in 1985，

    but I can't help but see a connection

    between this and the fact that in this same county

    a phony list of felons²³

    prohibited 45，000 people

    （54% of whom were African-American）

    from voting in the 2000 presidential election.

    This makes me think

    that your idea of security

    will only be imposed

    upon anyone who is either not white，

    or， if white， not dressed in America's mandatory²⁴

    Banana-Republic-Gap-Old-Navy individuality uniforms.

    And I know that really

    I don't know anything

    about what is really

    going on.

    After all， I'm just an ordinary citizen.

    I am telling you these things

    because I want you to know

    that I participate in democracy，

    that I have conversations about politics

    and get my sources from the independent press.

    And I know that it is America

    that grants me that freedom，

    and so， yes，

    I defend what is good about America.

    And you？

    If telling you these things is unpatriotic，

    then poetry is unpatriotic，

    and did I mention that I am a poet

    paying attention to those winds，

    those tides，

    and all those other clichés that poets and statesmen use

    to move the people to embrace one cause or another.

    I am a writer of propaganda，

    and here are some lines of my poetry：

    Beware， the images of the future are crouching²⁵

    in the shadows of grief，

    welcome to the next century，

    the tide is turning，

    you are not the elected sovereign of the world，

    you are not the king of freedom，

    we will defend our rights to be citizens of the world，

    you can't take that away，

    you can't take that away.

    Oh， no.

    You

    can't

    take

    that

    away

    from

    me.

    Sincerely，

    Kirstin Prevallet